We, the members and associate members of ESCAP represented at the High-level Intergovernmental Meeting to Conclude the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons,
1. Recognize that while an estimated 400 million persons with disabilities have the capacity to contribute to national development in the Asian and Pacific region and have increasingly become agents of change in their communities through their collective action, the majority of persons with disabilities are still excluded from education, employment and other economic and social opportunities and constitute some 20 per cent of the poorest people,
2. Recall that following the International Year of Disabled Persons in 1981, the United Nations General Assembly, in its resolution 37/52 of 3 December 1982, adopted the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons, aimed at achieving full participation and equality and protection of rights of persons with disabilities,
3. Also recall the continuing commitment of Governments in the Asian and Pacific region to the promotion of full participation and equality of persons with disabilities in the Asian and Pacific region and to the improvement of their lives through the proclamation of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993-2002, at the end of the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons (1983-1992) and through the adoption of the Proclamation on the Full Participation and Equality of People with Disabilities in the Asian and Pacific Region and the Agenda for Action for the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993-2002, at the launch of the Decade at Beijing in 1992,
4. Affirm the policy guidelines set out in the Agenda for Action for achieving the goals of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons within the 12 policy areas (national coordination, legislation, information, public awareness, accessibility and communication, education, training and employment, prevention of causes of disability, rehabilitation services, assistive devices, self-help organizations and regional cooperation) and the 107 specific targets adopted at a regional review meeting in 1995, further strengthened in 1999 and endorsed by the Commission at its fifty-sixth session in 2000,
5. Recognize that in the 1990s, United Nations initiatives concerning global policies and programmes in areas such as education, environment, human rights, population and development, social development, advancement of women, children, and shelter and habitat incorporated disability issues as substantive concerns in their declarations, frameworks and strategic action programmes. In particular, the World Summit for Social Development, held at Copenhagen in March 1995, in its Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development noted that people with disabilities, as one of the world's largest minorities, are often forced into poverty, unemployment and social isolation. It recommended the promotion of the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities and the development of strategies for implementation of the Rules,
6. Note that the world community has expressed its commitment to economic and social development in the face of rapid globalization in adopting General Assembly resolution 55/2 of 8 September 2000 entitled "United Nations Millennium Declaration", embodying a large number of specific commitments aimed at improving the lot of humanity in the twenty-first century,
7. Appreciate that under such a favourable policy milieu at the global and regional levels, ESCAP members and associate members adopted resolution 58/4 of 22 May 2002 on promoting an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society for people with disabilities in the Asian and Pacific region in the twenty-first century, by which it proclaimed the extension of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993-2002, for another decade, 2003-2012. The resolution will give further impetus to the implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons and the Agenda for Action for the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons in the region beyond 2002,
8. Agree that overall improvement has been achieved in all 12 policy areas under the Agenda for Action, but that progress has been uneven, particularly in the continuing and alarmingly low rate of access to education for children and youth with disabilities, and has been marked by significant subregional disparities,
9. Encourage Governments to actively implement the paradigm shift from a charity-based approach to a rights-based approach to the development of persons with disabilities and to move towards the human rights perspective, especially the perspective of the right to development for persons with disabilities, bearing in mind General Assembly resolution 56/168 of 19 December 2001 on a comprehensive and integral international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities,
10. Urge Governments in the region which have not done so to join the signatories to the Proclamation on the Full Participation and Equality of People with Disabilities in the Asian and Pacific Region and to strive to achieve the 107 targets for the implementation of the Agenda for Action for the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons,
11. Adopt the Biwako Millennium Framework for Action to promote an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society for persons with disabilities in the region. An "inclusive" society means a society for all and a "barrier-free" society means a society free from physical and attitudinal barriers, as well as social, economic and cultural barriers. A "rights-based" society means a society based on the concept of human rights, including the right to development,
12. Confirm that the Biwako Millennium Framework for Action is set in the context of relevant disability-specific United Nations international instruments, mandates and recommendations, including General Assembly resolutions 2856 (XXVI) of 20 December 1971 on the Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons, 3447 (XXX) of 9 December 1975 on the Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons, 37/52 of 3 December 1982 on the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons, the Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention (No. 159), 1983, adopted by the International Labour Organization on 20 June 1983, and its recommendation on that Convention, General Assembly resolution 48/96 of 20 December 1993 on Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities and the Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education,
13. Anticipate that the Biwako Millennium Framework for Action will contribute to attaining the millennium development goals and targets as issues relating to persons with disabilities are vital concerns to be addressed in realizing the relevant millennium development goals and targets.
