Hosted by the China Disabled Persons’ Federation (CDPF), the 3rd ASEM High-level Meeting on Disability took place on 10 October 2019, in Beijing, China.
Background
Disability is a common socio-economic issue in all countries. Protecting the rights of persons with disabilities, cultivating an equal and inclusive social environment for them has bearing not only on the life of persons with disabilities themselves, but also on the harmony, stability and development of the world.
On 29-30 October 2015, CDPF along with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of People’s Republic of China and Beijing Municipal government hosted the ASEM Disability Cooperation Event under the theme “Break Barriers for inclusive Development”. The ASEM High-level Meeting on Disability Joint Initiative-Enhancing Disability Cooperation among ASEM Members was released at the meeting, according to which, future ASEM cooperation in the field of disability will be based on the following three pillars: social development, human rights promotion and economic growth. It is established in the Initiative that ASEM High-level Meeting on Disability will be held every 2 years and be included into the existing multilateral and bilateral dialogue or cooperation mechanism among ASEM Partners.
To continue concerted efforts on enhancing ASEM disability cooperation, China hosted the 2nd ASEM High-level Meeting on Disability on 14-15 September 2017 in Beijing. The Meeting reviewed efforts and progress made by ASEM Partners in promoting ASEM disability cooperation in the past 2 years, shared knowledge and experience in promoting inclusive development for persons with disabilities, and discussed an action plan for future cooperation in the field of disability among ASEM Partners.
Despite the progress made in recent years, persons with disabilities still face numerous barriers to their full inclusion and participation in the life of their communities.
In order to achieve the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and disability development of Asia-Europe, to continue concerted efforts on enhancing ASEM disability cooperation, based on the long-term mechanism of ASEM disability cooperation, CDPF will host the 3rd ASEM High-level Meeting on Disability on 10 October 2019.
This year, the event is expected to have more than 150 participants from government agencies in charge of disability affairs, representatives from international disabled persons’ organizations, officials from UN bodies, scholars, experts and entrepreneurs of disability related industry will meet in China.
Objects
- To stimulate practical cooperation in the field of disability among ASEM Partners so that common consensus will be converted into real actions
- To promote the improvement of work on disability for the well-beings of people in both Asia & Europe
Outcomes
The High-level Meeting fostered the exchange of good practices in establishing and improving the work on disability for the well-beings of people between Asia & Europe. The Action Plan 2020-2025 was approved during the Meeting.
Programme
Day 0, Wednesday, 9 October 2019
18:30-20:00 | Welcome Dinner & Early Registration
Day 1, Thursday, 10 October 2019
09:00-11:30 | Other International Disability Cooperation Event (Optional)
11:30-13:30 | Lunch & Break
13:30-13:40 | Keynote Speech by Chairperson of CDPF
13:40-15:00 | Session 1: Policy Dialogue
15:00-15:20 | Tea Break
15:20-16:30 | Session 2: Strengthen Cooperation for Common Development
16:30-17:00 | Chair’s Summary