In the chair: the President, Lord Low of Dalston, CBE
The President opened the assembly by welcoming all those present, and by
thanking the Turkish Federation of the Blind (TFB) for hosting it.
Welcoming speeches were made by :
- Hasan Tatar: President of TFB
- Abdullah Guven: Head of Disability Administration in the Turkish Prime
Minister's office
- Fazli Akgun: Deputy Governor of Antalya
- Ali Deveci: Deputy Mayor of Antalya
- Nazan bedir, Director of Social Services for Antalya.
- Lokman Ayva: a blind member of the Turkish parliament.
The President thanked the Turkish government for their support in ensuring that
the general assembly would take place, and Mr. Ayva for his help in convincing
the government of the importance of the event.
The President noted with pleasure that three past Presidents of the World Blind
Union (WBU, namely, Sir Duncan Watson, CBE, 1988-1992); Dr. Euclid Herie
(1996-2000) and Kicki Nordstrom (2000-2004) were in attendance, as were Enrique
Perez, WBU Secretary-General, and Penny Hartin, WBU CEO.
He welcomed Poul Luneborg, Lennaart Nolte and Sir John Wall, CBE, (Honorary Life
Members), as well as Arvo Kaarvinen who, with Sir Duncan, will be proposed for
honorary life membership at the concluding session. He noted that our oldest
honorary life member, Boris Zimin, was not with us.
Maryanne Diamond, First Vice-President of WBU, brought greetings from WBU, and
said that WBU President, Dr. William Rowland, would be arriving in Antalya
shortly.
Greetings were received from Yannis Vardakastanis, President of the European
Disability Forum.
Vaclav Polasek, Secretary-General, read the list of forty-five national members.
All were represented, with the exception of five: Armenia, Belarus, Cyprus,
Ireland and Macedonia.
Programme: The programme which had been circulated was approved.
Scrutineers: Viv Barnes; Hans Kaltwasser; Anne Spinali; Yvonne Toros; and
Ludmila Tsesarskaya were appointed scrutineers.
It was recorded that, since the last general assembly, Louis Ciccone, Jean Desormeaux, Marcel Herb (all from France), Arne Husveg (Norway), Jean-Pierre Lhoest (Belgium), Janis Polis (Latvia), Horst Stolper (Germany), and Dr Siaka Diarra (Burkina Faso) had died. Tributes were paid to their work for blind and partially sighted people in their own countries, in Europe, and in the world.
In the chair: The President
The committee consisted of Branislav Mamojka (BM), Chairman, Slovak Republic; Ms
Lesley-Anne Alexander, UK; Ms Barbara Martin Munoz, Spain; Ms Kicki Nordstrom,
Sweden; Mr Rudolf Volejnik, Czech Republic.
BM referred to his committee's written report. They had received a total of 20
nominations. The committee had examined them, and found them to be in order.
When the report was prepared, there were nominations to fill all posts, except
that, for the three EBU representatives on the WBU executive, there were two
vacancies. In accordance with article IV section 3.9 of the constitution, the
president had accepted the nominations of Birgitta Blokland and of Yiannis
Vardakastanis to fill these vacancies.
BM said that the committee had made recommendations, using criteria in the
constitution, calling for gender balance, age balance, blind/partially sighted
balance, geographic balance, and appropriate experience and knowledge on the
part of candidates. Owing to the relatively small number of nominations, the
committee was unable to apply all these criteria. He emphasised that the
committee was only making recommendations, and all candidates had an equal right
to be considered for election.
BM concluded by asking that if any delegate had comments on or objections to the
nominations listed in appendix 2 to the report, they should submit them to him
in writing by no later than 10 pm today. If he could not be found, they could be
handed to one of the scrutineers.
The President introduced these, which had been circulated to delegates.
Julien Aimi, with the assistance of Rui Goncalves, presented the report which
had been circulated to delegates.
Part 2 of the report contained recommendations:
1. Simplification of the accounting structure should be completed;
2. The grouping of national members and the level of subscriptions and
contributions to the office should be revised, since increased income is needed,
and there has been no increase in subscriptions or contributions to the office
for eight years. Details of the recommended groups, subscriptions and
contributions to the office for the next work period are set out in appendix.
3. During the next work period a working group (perhaps the Finance Committee)
should examine the need for a new funding structure, taking into account
historical and geographical criteria and the needs of EBU, but also the
financial situation of member countries. It will be its duty to evaluate the
present funding structure of EBU, and if appropriate to propose a new one to be
submitted to the 2011 General Assembly.
4. To create a “Task Force” that will be in charge of supporting our project
officer in order to target and answer the calls for proposals from the European
Commission which could help the EBU in reaching its strategic goals.
This restricted “Task force” (4 to 5 people maximum) should be made up of
experts from our various member associations, and should be able to :
4.1 participate efficiently in answering the European Commission's calls for proposals;
4.2 act as network leaders having the ability to identify partners potentially interested in the different projects.
5. EBU should seek to develop a Private funding policy. This is a subject that
has never been explored. Companies could participate in the co-funding of
European projects.
Fewer and fewer calls for proposals by the European Union offer 100% funding. It
is more and more common to ask for a private co-funder to participate up to 25,
30, or even 50% in some cases. It is necessary to undertake a study of this
matter and analyse how we could involve companies in order to persuade them to
co-fund EBU's actions and projects.
6. To carry on with our strategy of aiming to find sponsors, taking into account
that we face the difficulty: what can an association such as EBU offer to
potential sponsors?
A finance committee already exists, but this work could perhaps be entrusted to
a working group of experts. In particular members of the group should have
expertise in communication and public relations. Their goal should be to
identify the main assets which EBU could offer in order to attract sponsors.
The Treasurer's report was adopted by acclaim, and his recommendations accepted.
Mokrane Boussaid said that the office is the repository of the collective memory of EBU. It is vital that past achievements and knowledge accumulated over nearly fifteen years is not lost. He thanked the Board for being responsive to the needs of the office, appointing an additional member of staff, Caroline Fakhr. She is part-time, and deals mostly with information gathering and maintaining records. Mokrane thanked the office staff, making special mention of Marie Menager. He and the office staff are eager to contribute to the future success of EBU.
Oystein Fylling, co-ordinator of the youth working group spoke first. Their
first workshop at the forum was on employment. Participants emphasised that job
seekers must acquire necessary skills, and be active in looking for work. Blind
Organisations could help by arranging mentoring, and job training. Awareness
raising among employers was important.
The second workshop looked at involvement in the work of blind organisations.
Inter-generational cohesion must be promoted.
Birgitta Blokland gave a presentation on taking part in international work.
National members must encourage young members to take part in the leadership of
organisations. Training and leadership seminars should be set up.
Next, there had been a joint session with the elderly working group. Young
people could learn about the aspirations of younger blind people in the 21st
century, and young people could learn from the experiences and knowledge of
older members.
The group discussed a telephone facility in Poland, which enabled overseas calls
to be made free of charge; mobile phones; and a Czech language school.
The forum had ended with a discussion about the European Union programme which
provided funding for international youth seminars.
Oystein said that he felt the forum had been a great success, opening the door
to recruitment of young blind people as members of the leadership of national
members of EBU. He mentioned EBU youthnet . The idea is to have an address in
every country which is dedicated to promoting youth work.
He hoped that there will be a similar forum before the next general assembly.
Luisa Bartolucci, co-ordinator of the women's working group, spoke next. She
said that she had just come from two days hard and very interesting work.
Although the women's group had started with some reservations about having a
forum with three strands, as opposed to the single focus of the women's forum
which preceded previous general assemblies, they quickly realised the importance
of having the different perspectives represented by youth and elderly.
The women's working group analysed the social image of visually impaired women
as seen in different media. They looked at the script of a film.
Another workshop considered how women could increase their participation in the
governing bodies of national members.
Funds will be needed to progress the work of the women's group.
A fourth workshop looked at training trainers. There was also a joint meeting
with the elderly working group. It was very interesting to hear the
recollections of participants. The older women could tell us of the situation of
blind women in the past, and compare it with the present time.
They had looked at culture, leisure and social rights; education and employment;
the interests of children. We discussed adoption and responsible motherhood. We
looked at a report on the position of deaf-blind women. We received national
reports.
Finally, we considered resolutions, and these will be referred to the
resolutions committee.
Next, at the request of Rose-Marie Luethi, co-ordinator of the elderly working
group, Alan Suttie read the following report.
In planning this event it was our intention to provide delegates with practical
ideas and solutions that would help to target the needs of elderly blind people
in their own countries. The working group believes that despite older blind
people representing more than 75% of the blind population in Europe, governments
and agencies are not doing enough to meet the needs of elderly blind people.
Work during the last period has shown the importance of links to mainstream
older people’s organisations. Our first session was address by Dirk Jarre who is
the International Cooperation Officer for Eurag-Europe, the European Federation
of Older Persons with 140 member organisations (including EBU) in 40 European
Countries. Dirk is also the Vice President of the Social Platform in Brussels
and chairs its permanent working group on Social Policy.
This session looked at challenging the stereotype of older people as being old,
frail and forgetful. The reality is that as life expectancy increases this is
becoming less and less the case. An important aspiration for older people is
being heard and participating in civil society. As disability groups advocate –
nothing about us without us – older people need to be engaged in decisions that
affect their lives. Organisations of blind and partially sighted people need to
look at ways to encourage and facilitate engagement with older people and the
organisations that represent them.
Social isolation is recognised as a major issue for older blind people, evidence
from a number of studies. Peter Verstraten from SENSIS in the Netherlands
demonstrated the importance of friendships and social networks. SENSIS now
provides a 10 week programme that helps individuals to understand their own
network and the steps they can take to make changes to their own situation.
In a joint session with the Women’s Forum we looked at the particular
experiences of blind women who were coping with sight loss at different life
stages. The equality and diversity commission has been keen to try and identify
differences in the experiences and challenges faced by both younger and older
blind women.
The first session on day 2 challenged the ability of current rehabilitation
programmes, where available, to meet the needs of elderly blind people. Most,
like mobility, were skills designed to help fit, young, motivated war veterans.
The session demonstrated a number of innovative programmes operating across
Europe that particularly address the needs of older people. For example,
agencies in Germany had taken memory training work developed in the Czech
Republic and were making it available in formats that could be accessed by older
blind people.
Addressing other co morbid conditions, the forum also looked at programmes that
specifically targeted older blind people. These included:
- Training in eccentric viewing for age related macula degeneration developed in
Sweden ;
- Acknowledging the prevalence of age related hearing loss with staff training
in dual sensory loss ;
- Neurological vision training for stroke patients suffering a field of vision
loss being delivered in the UK ;
- Exercise programmes to improve mobility, strength, flexibility and
coordination being provided in a number of countries.
Maria-Jose Sanchez, Chair of the Equality and Diversity Commission, wound up the
report of the Forum, emphasising that it had been a great success, and
recommending that a similar forum should precede the next general assembly.
To conclude the session, Alan Suttie submitted a light-hearted exercise.
Delegates separated into eight workshops, to consider the report of the board for the work period just concluded, and the draft strategic plan for 2007-2011.
In the chair: The president
Feedback from workshops
The rapporteurs for the eight workshops delivered reports.
The President warmly thanked the rapporteurs.
In reply to a question from Serbia, Wolfgang Angermann explained that, at the
beginning of the work period, the Board had appointed a commission for
multi-handicapped blind people, which included deaf-blind people. However, it
was found desirable to reinstate a separate commission for deaf-blind people,
and this had been formed. It had begun its work by considering the definition of
deaf-blindness. A survey of the situation of deaf-blind women had been carried
out by Angela Pinpinella (Italy). A deaf-blind conference will be held in
Croatia in the spring of 2008, an EBU will commit Euros 10,000 to it. The
multi-handicapped commission took steps to translate its brochure into languages
additional to English, German and French. Parents of multi-handicapped children
had complained that organisations for the blind did not provide adequate
services for their children: national members need to address this problem. A
survey of all EBU countries will encourage the development of services in
countries where they are less favourable.
The President asked for an informal indication whether or not delegates
considered that the workshops had been worthwhile. Delegates indicated that they
had been, and that they had provided an opportunity for participation.
Dr. William Rowland, President of WBU, addressed the assembly. He commended
EBU's decision to work to a strategic plan. In many ways, EBU is an engine room
of ideas for the WBU. Service provision, advancement of technology, political
activism in EBU countries is not equalled in many places. WBU Now has a
permanent office in Toronto. He expressed pride in the way in which the profile
of issues of low vision has been raised. He congratulated EBU on its development
work in Africa: he commended plans to achieve progress in Eastern and central a
European countries. On the UN convention, he pointed out that countries from
Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean had been among the first to ratify it.
He expressed concern that some countries in Europe were showing tardiness in
this regard. He wished the assembly every success.
In the chair: The President
Branislav Mamojka (BM), chair of the committee, reported that he had not
received any comments on, or objections to, the nominations referred to in his
first report which he had delivered on the previous day. He then read the list
of nominations, pointing out that there are two candidates for the office of
secretary-general. He also reminded delegates that, if the proposed amendment to
the constitution increasing the number of ordinary members of the Board is
adopted, eight places would need to be filled. If it is not adopted, there will
be six. There are ten candidates, so there will be an election, whether or not
the amendment is adopted.
Apart from these two cases in which elections must take place, candidates for
other positions were unopposed.
The President asked Sir John Wall, Chair of the constitution committee, to
present the resolutions.
John said that the constitution committee consisted of himself as chair; the
President; the secretary-general; the treasurer; Wolfgang Angermann; Rafael
Gonzalez Millan, and the director of the office. twenty resolutions had been
proposed by the Board, in conformity with Article VIII Section 1 of the
constitution, and had been circulated to delegates. Each needs to be passed by a
two-thirds majority. Resolutions 12 and 19 would, if passed, come into force
immediately; the others at the close of the general assembly.
He proceeded to deal with them.
Resolution 1: this inserted, as a definition, a statement that blindness
included partial sight, and that national members could choose their own
definition of blindness. This mirrored a provision in the WBU constitution.
The proposal was opposed by the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany, who
argued that inclusion of a definition in these terms could mean that EBU did not
set as much store on its function of representing partially sighted people as it
did on that of representing blind people. The amendments made at the 2003
general assembly were to be preferred.
It was clear that the proposal would not gain the necessary majority. It was
therefore agreed that it should be referred back to the constitution committee.
If they were of the view that it was of sufficient importance, they might bring
it back to a future assembly, but with a supporting paper.
Resolution 2: This proposed an updated objects clause. Denmark suggested, and it
was agreed, that, in paragraph 1.7, after the words "men and women with
disabilities" there should be inserted "especially men and women who are blind
or partially sighted." The addition was allowable under previously accepted
practice, as it did not change the sense of the proposal. With this addition,
the resolution was passed by acclaim.
Resolution 3: This proposed updated powers. Sweden suggested, and it was agreed,
that, at the beginning of paragraph 2.3, the words "In collaboration with
national members" should be inserted. The addition was allowable under
previously accepted practice, as it did not change the sense of the proposal.
With this addition, the resolution was passed by acclaim.
Resolutions 4 and 5 were passed by acclaim.
Resolution 6: This proposed insertion of a provision as follows:
"where there is competition for places on a delegation, preference shall be
given to members of under-represented groups. A member of an under-represented
group who feels aggrieved about the failure to apply this proviso when
appointing their country's delegation shall have the right to complain to the
Credentials Committee. All disputes concerning the application of this proviso
shall be referred to the Credentials Committee which shall advise the Board on
the action to be taken."
This was strongly opposed by Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden. It
was argued that it interfered with a national member's right to select its
delegation; and it might be unworkable where members of a delegation were chosen
by different organisations, or where a national member sent only two delegates.
A suggestion that the proposal should be referred back was rejected, and it was
withdrawn.
Resolutions 7 to 18 were passed by acclaim.
Resolution 19: Italy suggested, and it was agreed, that "auditor" should be
substituted for "person”. The alteration was allowable under previously accepted
practice, as it did not change the sense of the proposal. With this alteration,
the resolution was passed by acclaim
Resolution 20 was passed by acclaim
At the request of Serbia, it was agreed that the revised constitution would be
circulated as soon as possible.
In the chair: The President
Branislav Mamojka (BM), Chair of the nominations committee, reported that there
were two nominations for secretary-general Birgitta Blokland and Vaclav Polasek.
They both introduce themselves. Each was a candidate for ordinary membership of
the Board, in the event of being unsuccessful in the ballot for
secretary-general. There were nine other candidates for board membership: thus
there would be ten candidates for eight seats.
After the papers for the voting on the election of secretary-general had been
distributed and handed to the scrutineers, the nine candidates for seats on the
Board who had not already spoken introduced themselves.
Rudi Cattani, chair of the Liaison Commission, presented the report of the
commission, which had been circulated to delegates. The commission was appointed
by the Board to co-operate with the institutions of the European Union (EU), as
well as with the European Disability Forum (EDF). The commission has more
extensive tasks than other commissions. It provides support to national members
in THE twenty-seven EU member states in all questions pertaining to blindness
and partial sight by campaigning and liaising, by getting and keeping in touch
with the EU institutions and taking part in EU programmes and projects. When
dealing with EU-specific matters, the commission assumes the role and
responsibility of an ad hoc emanation of EBU, on behalf of which it carries out
activities in the field of legislation, social action and so on. Members of the
commission are appointed by national members, not by the Board. From its
members, the Board appoints the chair, other officers, and the cabinet.
EU programmes provide financial support to NGOs, including EBU, for projects.
The publication of the EBU Newsletter is supported in this way, as well as a
number of other specific EBU initiatives, such as capacity building and raising
awareness, and the construction of our website.
The commission also co-operates with the EDF. EDF is a network on which all
national disability councils in EU member states are represented, as are
European NGOS such as EBU. Rudi was elected a member of the executive committee
of EDF, and of the membership and credentials committee, for 2005-2009.
The liaison commission's plan of action is very broad: it is an action framework
rather than an action plan.
In his presentation of the Board's report, the President highlighted some of the
commission's work. More details were given in the Commission's report.
Rudi concluded his report by referring to the postal directive, which preserves
the "articles for the blind" exemption from postal charges.
He thanked the Italian Union, the French Federation, ONCE and RNIB for their
support of the commission.
The President thanked Rudi for his leadership of the commission, and for
carrying out all the work that this entailed.
Rudi answered a number of questions from the floor.
President: Lord Low of Dalston, CBE: unopposed
First Vice-President: Alexandre Neumyvakin: unopposed
Second Vice-President: Tommaso Daniele: unopposed
Treasurer: Julien Aimi: unopposed
In the election for Secretary-General, 244 votes were cast, with the result:
Birgitta Blokland: 126: elected
Vaclav Polasek: 118
EBU representatives on the WBU Executive Committee (elected unopposed):
Ms Birgitta Blokland
Mr Alexander Neumyvakin
Mr Yannis Vardakastanis
Note: BM had reported that only one nomination had originally been received for
these three seats. The two vacancies were filled by late nominations accepted by
the President in accordance with Article IV, section 3.9 of the Constitution.
Delegates cast their votes
In the chair: The First Vice-President
The first speaker was Yiannis Vardakastanis (Greece), President of the European
Disability Forum (EDF). He said that capacity building is very important. It is
not just a term used to describe an exercise you are going to undertake: it is
associated with our ability as organisations to promote and protect the rights
of the people whom we represent. Capacity building is an aim of the EU, of EDF
and of the International Disability Alliance (IDA). The essence of capacity
building is the empowerment of disability organisations to Carrey out their
essential functions. They set our social, political, economic and cultural
agenda, emphasising the issues which concern blind and partially sighted people.
EDF has been involved in capacity building. It first sought to assist
organisations in the accession countries to join the EU-wide disability
movement. This was followed by capacity building in Serbia, Bosnia/Herzegovina,
Croatia, Montenegro and Albania. Organisations must be assisted to act as
representatives of their groups. This differs from service provision. Capacity
building creates leaders and leadership: leadership not only able to face the
outside world, but also to lead the organisation from the inside . An
organisation must be able to mobilise its membership. Leaders must be able to
make alliances with other players in the field, from local to regional to
national level. They must be able to influence the mass media. We must celebrate
diversity.
The second speaker was the President. Colin said that capacity building will
strengthen the sinews of our movement, which is, of course, composed of the
organisations which make it up. We must address the imbalance between what is
available to blind and partially sighted people in Western Europe and what is
available to them in central and eastern Europe. EBU acknowledges its obligation
to do what it can for blind and partially sighted people in less fortunate
circumstances than ourselves. We have helped Africa and Asia. There are
inequalities within our own continent. He had visited several countries in
Eastern Europe. He had been impressed both by the scale of needs, and by what
our national members have been doing there, to try to address those needs. It
should be one of the prime objectives of EBU to help those national members.
Money and financial assistance is part of the equation. We need to do something
systematic. We should try to establish a development fund, an EBU development
fund. We could try to bring together various funding streams: money from
national governments, from the European Union, from private foundations and from
large corporations. This is a suggestion which came out of his discussions with
ONCE. EBU Board agreed that he should investigate the establishment of a
development fund further. With the help of some funding from RNIB, a feasibility
study is to be carried out. We have appointed Sheila Lewis as a consultant. The
study runs from September, 2007 to February, 2008. She will begin with
fact-finding from knowledgeable experts; she will assess the needs; a number of
possible models need to be considered; Finally, the preferred model must be
recommended.
Sheila Lewis was the next speaker. She said that she had so far spoken to about
twelve leaders of organisations from central and Eastern Europe. She has
obtained a substantial amount of relevant information. It is clear that common
themes are emerging. There are general needs, and needs specific to particular
countries. The needs are great - perhaps too great to be met by an EBU fund. The
gap between needs and provision is great in finding employment; and in
mainstreaming education. There are significant differences in sources of
financial support; and in provision of equipment.
A representative of Moldova was the next speaker. When Moldova ceased to be part
of the Soviet Union, workshops for the blind were closed. Recently, it has been
possible to open some of them again. New products, including furniture, are
being made and marketed. Moldova would like to co-operate with any organisation
willing to work with it.
The chair invited questions and comments.
Yiannis Vardakastanis said that, if public funding is to be obtained, we need
organisations able and willing to lobby governments. If you have to rely on
private donors, the level of funding will not meet needs.
A representative of Serbia spoke of a project supported by Slovak republic,
which provided braille writing machines for students.
Gareth Davies (UK) said that the best help we can give anyone is the ability to
help themselves. He commended supported employment, as it is now organised in
UK. It gives a feeling of belonging, of participation, and the dignity of a
wage.
The President in the chair
Birgitta Blokland said that the Board had set up a working group on
communication, to develop a basic communication plan. Until 2003, The main goals
had been delivering information, and lobbying. The communication tools were:-
The EBU website;
The brochure "Vision For Inclusion" , providing a general presentation Of what
EBU is an what it stands for;
EBU newsletter;
The European Messenger - a half-yearly publication of the EBU rights commission;
Other publications highlighting visually impaired people's needs in particular
areas.
EBU has established email lists and has submitted lobbying documents.
The group found that the goals of information and lobbying should be extended.
Raising awareness, gaining support, influencing opinion, the promotion of EBU
positions, education and changing attitudes, raising the visibility of EBU,
providing expert advice, should be added.
We divided target audiences into internal and external. The former are national
members, commissions, working groups, and EBU office. The latter are
politicians, the general media, sponsors and the general public.
The EBU constitution and the strategic plan are the basis for EBU's "message."
We added "A vision for inclusion," the brochure launched at the European
parliament.
Our present strapline is "EBU: the voice of blind and partially sighted people
in Europe." Alternatives might be "A vision for inclusion", "EBU towards an
inclusive Europe", "EBU towards a Europe for all". We also looked at WBU's
"nothing about us without us".
Mokrane Boussaid said that, now we have an information officer, it is much
easier to meet deadlines. Two changes in the format of the newsletter have been
made, as a result of feedback. In 2006, the number of issues each year was
increased from four to six. The website has been modernised. The emailing lists
have proved to be a powerful means of communication within EBU. We make use of
press releases. In 2004, a social event was held at the European Parliament, to
mark the twentieth anniversary of the founding of EBU.
Birgitta Blokland added that we now have EU Update, produced by ONCE on behalf
of EBU, covering activities in the European Union, and the President's
half-yearly update report for the WBU.
In the coming work period, it is intended to produce a half-term report, in
addition to the Board's report to the general assembly. We will keep the
brochure "A vision for inclusion" updated; there is a need for more policy
statements; we can use press releases to publicise policy statements. A calendar
of events and activities will be kept. We ask national members to keep us
informed of their activities which may be of interest Europe-wide. Factsheets,
guides, videos and other material useful for publicity should be shared with
other national members and with EBU. We will consider the possibility of
producing a video about EBU itself. We must celebrate the twenty-fifth
anniversary of EBU in 2009. Applications for European Union project funding
should include an item for communication and/or publicity in the bid.
In the chair: The President
John Heilbrunn reported that the committee had met for two hours on the previous evening, and would be meeting again this evening. Nine resolutions or notices of motion had been submitted by national members before the beginning of the assembly: a further twelve came from the Equality and Diversity Forum. The committee hoped to be able to reduce this number to reasonable proportions!
Branislav Mamojka, Chair of the nominations committee, announced the following
results:-
Elections for Board members (245 sets of voting papers distributed; 244
envelopes handed to scrutineers. The first eight candidates were elected.)
1. Ms Unn Ljoner Hagen, Norway, 192
2. Mr Wolfgang Angermann, Germany, 174
3. Ms Sigrun Bessadottir, Finland, 170
4. Mr Vaclav Polasek, Czech Republic, 163
5. Mr Rafael Gonzalez Millan, Spain, 162
6. Mr Yannis Vardakastanis, Greece, 141
7. Mr Emin Demirci, Turkey, 126
8. Mr Sinan Tafaj, Albania, 118
9. Mr Vasil Dolapchiev, Bulgaria, 108
10. Ms Anna Wozniak-Szymanska, Poland, 108.
In the chair: Birgitta Blokland
Chris Friend was the first speaker. He represented the WBU Low Vision Group, of
which he is past chair. He said that, when EBU and WBU were founded in 1984,
partially sighted people were being treated no differently from blind people. By
the time of the WBU GA in Toronto in 1996, the particular needs of people with
low vision had begun to creep their way into service delivery. In the past
eleven years, we have moved forward. WBU now gives low vision a much higher
profile. Low vision policy is now in the hands of people with low vision.
Terminology remains a problem: "low vision" or "partial sight?" The wishes of
the consumer should determine the choice. EBU seems to favour partial sight. The
Asia-Pacific region of WBU generally use low vision. EBU has a rich army of low
vision leaders. In Athens, 2003, EBU gave a lead by adding "and/or partially
sighted" after "blind" in the EBU constitution. This is an example of the
inclusion of diversity - which should be followed.
The second speaker was Harry Geyskens, co-author of the EBU Policy Paper on Low
Vision. He said that in 2003 EBU GA adopted the policy statement on low vision.
The main problem is how to make society understand what partial sight is; how
partially sighted people function; and to make the general public aware of our
specific needs and solutions. In defining partial sight, one must consider
visual acuity, and the visual field. The general public are confused about our
problems: sometimes they think we are faking low vision. A person with tunnel
vision may use a white cane, but will be able to read a newspaper. Some people
can ride a bike safely, but have difficulty reading. Much can depend on the
lighting, and/or colour contrasts. More partially sighted people have problems
with visual acuity than with visual field. The public must be educated to
understand the problems of partial sight, and must not be mystified when a
partially sighted person is using a technical aid. We are entitled to
acceptance, respect and recognition of our particular needs. General solutions
include the prevention of low vision and blindness. Specifically, we need access
to low vision aids, and to training to be able to use them. We need access to
education, rehabilitation, employment, information and culture, to buildings and
public transport. If the principles of universal design are adopted, specific
solutions should not be needed. Partial sight affects children, adults and
elderly people. The empowerment of partially sighted people of all ages must be
a priority for EBU, and for national members. We must identify champions. There
should be a forum on low vision, preceding the next general assembly.
The third speaker was Oystein Fylling, Coordinator of the EBU Youth Group. He
said that the vast majority of elderly people with sight loss are partially
sighted. Loss of sight is a traumatic experience, even if it does not leave you
totally blind. We must support people in this situation. Adversity only exists
to be conquered. Blind and partially sighted people obviously have different
needs, but they have needs in common, too. We must grant partially sighted
people equality in our organisations. United we stand, divided we fall!
Penny Hartin, CEO of the WBU office, was to have been the fourth speaker, but
she had lost her voice!
A lively discussion followed the presentations given by the three speakers.
Points made by the speakers and during the discussion are covered in the
conclusions below.
The chair drew the session to an end with the following summary:-
The conclusions/action points from this low vision session are the following:
- EBU to organise a forum on low vision in the work period 2007-2011.
- Terminology and definition to be developed jointly with the WBU Low Vision Group - low vision, partially sighted - the terminology is confusing now.
- Develop info on EBU website jointly with WBU website with links to it from national members’ websites. (Good and ample information on low vision already exists and is available from the internet, but will have to be linked to EBU/WBU websites.)
- An emblem for low vision? The EBU to carry out research into whether there is a wish/need among people with low vision for a "low vision" emblem or not.
- Self-advocacy and empowerment - Research and action is needed regarding the psychological aspects of having low vision. Partially sighted people have to learn how to advocate for themselves better and become ‘ambassadors' for the cause.
- Advocate individual services for people with low vision based on functionality.
- Promote universal design/design for all.
- It is clear that we need equality within our organisations to be able to promote equality in society. There are 3 partially sighted persons to every 1 blind person in the world.
- The more people EBU and its members represent, the more successful our organisations can be!
The chair thanked the speakers and the participants in the debate for their
contributions.
(Copies of the full texts of the presentations by Harry Geyskens and by Oystein
Fylling may be obtained from EBU office.)
In the chair: The President
The President asked Tony Aston to explain to delegates what contribution they
would be invited to make in the workshops.
Tony said that in the autumn of 2001 the UN General Assembly passed a resolution
to establish an Ad Hoc Committee (AHC) to consider proposals for a UN Convention
to protect and promote the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. The
AHC met 8 times between 2001 and 2006 and submitted a final Convention text to
the UN General Assembly, which was adopted last December. It has been open for
signature since the end of March. Over a hundred member states have signed the
Convention. The next step is for each state that has signed to go through the
process of ratification. This requires an examination of the country's
legislation and, where necessary, steps to bring this in to line with the
requirements of the Convention. The process of ratification may take 12 months
or more. The Convention enters into force after 20 states have notified the UN
that ratification is complete.
The Convention has a preamble, which is not legally enforceable. This relates
the Convention to the UN Charter and its conventions and treaties, and defines
the status of disabled people, eg in relation to poverty, family and community.
It also establishes why a Convention is necessary.
Articles 1 to 8 inclusive are concerned with general issues, such as the purpose
of the Convention, definitions, principles, obligations, non discrimination,
women, children and awareness raising.
Articles 9 to 30 are concerned with specific rights for disabled people. These
are the primary focus for EBU. The remaining articles - 31 to 50 consider
monitoring, implementation at a national and UN level and administrative
matters.
There is also an optional protocol. The states who sign this Protocol agree that
individuals and groups of disabled people can bring their cases to the UN if
they claim that their rights under the Convention have been violated and all
national remedies have been exhausted.
The extent to which the Convention will have an impact on the lives of disabled
people will be determined by a number of factors.
The language of the Convention gives governments considerable flexibility in the
extent to which they act to introduce measures to implement its articles. Words
and phrases like 'take appropriate steps', encourage, urge, and promote are
used, as well as more forceful language such as 'ensure' and 'all necessary
measures'.
Those sections of the Convention that relate to economic, social and cultural
rights are subject to the principle of progressive realisation. This recognises
that many (developing) countries will be unable to implement parts of the
Convention for some considerable time, perhaps because of other priorities or
limited resources. It also recognises that fundamental changes to some aspects
of the built environment or public transport infrastructure, for example, will
take many years to accomplish.
The Convention permits UN member states to opt out of some parts of the
Convention, though these 'reservations' must not be incompatible with the
objects or purpose of the Convention.
The Convention represents a clear and comprehensive statement of the rights that
should be enjoyed by disabled people throughout the world. Once sufficient
countries have ratified the Convention it will have the same force in
international law as other UN Conventions and Treaties. It is the most powerful
tool that we have yet obtained to ensure equal rights for blind and partially
sighted people throughout the world.
Article 1 Purpose of the Convention states that -
"The purpose of the present Convention is to promote, protect and ensure the
full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all
persons with disabilities, …" It goes on to state -
"Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental,
intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers
may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis
with others."
The Convention is clearly intended to protect the rights of blind and partially
sighted people. Looking at Convention articles 9 through 30, some are equally
relevant to all disabled people. Articles 11, right to life, and 14, liberty and
security of the person are examples. Other articles are of special importance to
blind and partially sighted people. It is these articles that EBU focuses on in
its strategic approach to Convention implementation.
Convention statements
The first step taken by the EBU's Rights Commission has been to prepare a series
of statements that -
* Define the needs and characteristics of blind and partially sighted people in relation to those Convention articles that are of most importance to people with visual disabilities;
* relate the rights set out in the Convention articles to these needs and characteristics.
15 draft statements have been prepared. These statements are intended to be used
in two ways -
* By national members as tools to provide the basis for campaigning activities to persuade their governments to ensure that the relevant Convention articles are implemented in such a way that they substantially benefit and assist blind and partially sighted people;
* to provide an element of a legislative database to be developed by EBU. This is described in more detail below and will provide EBU national members with another dynamic campaigning tool.
Database on Legislation
It is anticipated that most, if not all, EBU members will wish to consider how
their country's legislative provisions relate to the rights set out in the
Convention that are of greatest importance to blind and partially sighted
people.
The Board of EBU have agreed that EBU will establish a legislative database on
its website. This will incorporate the statements of needs and characteristics
and rights that are being prepared and that have been described above.
The database will enable each EBU member organisation to record the extent to
which their country's legislation provides each specific right for blind and
partially sighted people as defined in the statements . EBU members would then
be invited to update the database as the process of implementation progresses in
their country.
As the database develops, it will provide a reference source for monitoring.
This will be of value to EBU and other agencies who wish to monitor the
implementation of the Convention.
A Support Network
The third element of the proposed strategy is to establish and support an EBU
wide network of individuals working with EBU national members to ensure that
blind and partially sighted people in each country are given the rights
contained in the Convention and that they are appropriate to the needs of blind
and partially sighted people.
It is proposed to review the existing Rights Commission's HERMES Network. The
Commission will seek to recruit new members where necessary, who are directly
involved with campaigning to have the Convention implemented and monitored in
their country for the benefit of blind and partially sighted people. Its members
will be supported by the provision of documentation and training, as well as
direct contact with Commission members. Network members will be encouraged to
provide and update information on the legislative database and to provide
support to other Network members.
Each of the 15 statements has the same structure -
Section 1 A reproduction of the relevant Convention article.
This text contains references (R1, R2 etc) that relate to the content of Section
3 of the statement.
Section 2 Is a declaration of the needs and characteristics of blind and
partially sighted people relevant to the Convention article.
Section 3 Identifies important aspects of the Convention article that relate to
the needs and characteristics identified in Section 1. The reference number (R1,
R2 etc) referred to above is followed by the relevant extract from the
Convention article. This is preceded by the subtitle 'Convention Text'. The
extract from the Convention article is followed by a subtitle 'Requirements'.
Subsequent text sets out the rights to which blind and partially sighted people
are entitled to that can be inferred from the Convention Text, and that are
required in order to address the barriers arising from our needs and
characteristics.
Delegates will shortly break into 7 workshops to discuss and finalise the text
of these statements. The workshops will also consider how to utilise this
material as campaigning tools to introduce, implement and monitor the rights set
out in the Convention for the benefit of blind and partially sighted people.
The papers distributed prior to the General Assembly allocated the statements to
be considered by each of the workshops. Details of workshop membership,
rapporteurs and leaders have been circulated with the Assembly papers.
1. Objectives:
1.1 Ensure that the statements encompass the needs, characteristics and rights of blind and partially sighted people and are aligned with the rights set out in the Convention text.
1.2 Consider how to make optimum use of the needs, characteristics and rights statements as a tool to campaign for implementation and monitoring of specific articles of the Convention text.
2. Outcome:
In addition to the action agreed to by EBU Board, that is, to develop a Convention legislative database and to establish a Network to facilitate the implementation and monitoring of the Convention, workshops are asked to identify two key activities that EBU could provide to help members to campaign nationally for Convention implementation.
Delegates then broke up into seven workshops. Written reports of the workshops
were submitted to Tony Aston.
In the chair: the President
John Heilbrunn (JH) presented the report of the resolutions committee. The
report contained recommendations, which with one exception (see report on
resolution 6 below) were accepted by acclaim.
JH proceeded to present the seven resolutions which the committee had
formulated. Resolutions 1 to 5 were adopted by acclaim.
For resolution 6, Spain and Sweden called for the original resolution submitted
by the equality and diversity forum to replace it. A voice vote of delegations
was taken. Resolution 6 as proposed by the resolutions committee was adopted by
the votes of 18 delegations against 10, with one abstaining, and eleven absent.
The President commented that, in view of what had been said, he would urge the
board to take into account the terms of the Forum's proposed resolution.
Resolution 7 was adopted by acclaim.
The President concluded the session by asking the assembly to:
1. Confirm the policy document on genetics: this was done by acclaim.
2. Accept the Board's report, including confirming the membership of:
Associate members:
- Action for Blind People - a UK organisation founded in 1857 which provides services to blind people in the fields of employment, housing, information and leisure;
- The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association - a UK organisation which is the largest provider of guide dogs in Europe;
- Sonneheert International - a Dutch organisation promoting employment of blind and partially sighted people;
- Ligo Internacia de Blindaj Esperantistoj, the international organisation which promotes Esperanto.
Sponsoring member:
Voice on the Go inc., a company providing access by voice, from any telephone, to a person's email, calendar and contacts into sponsoring membership.
This was done by acclaim.
In the Chair: the President
The treasurer referred to part 3 of his report, circulated to delegates.
Acceptance of his recommendations for increased income meant that the larger
budget could be approved. This was agreed by acclaim.
The treasurer proposed, and the assembly agreed by acclaim, that Stefane Sintes,
GROUPE ADEC, 21 rue de la Paix, 75002 PARIS, should be appointed auditor.
The Treasurer, as President of the French Federation, reminded delegates that
2009 is the bicentenary year of Louis Braille's birth. Maintaining the museum
required funding. Donations had been received as follows:
Denmark: Euros 1.250
SONS: Euros 100
WBU: Euros 3.600
ITALIAN LOUIS BRAILLE CLUBS: Euros 10,000
SLOVENIA: Euros1,000
ALBANIA: Euros 500
FSA: Euros 3,250
Further funding is needed, but he was confident that it will be forthcoming.
Blind people want to recognise the huge debt they owe to Braille. The President
endorsed this comment. He had initiated discussions with some of the larger
national members, with a view to putting the finances of the museum onto a
sounder basis.
Tommaso Daniele, President of the Italian Union of the Blind, said that his
Union had established an Italian Braille Club with three categories of members:
individuals; public organisations; and private organisations. The money they
collect serves the following four purposes:
1. Every year they make a sizeable financial contribution to the Louis Braille
Birthplace Museum in Coupvray (France).
2. They have created a permanent exhibition at the Institute for the Blind in
Milan to tell Louis Braille's story and show the technical evolution of braille.
3. Every six months the Italian Braille Club issues a newsletter to inform its
members, politicians and civil society about its activities.
4. Most importantly, the Italian Parliament approved a law which declares 21
February National Braille Day. To mark the Day, Club members take part in
awareness raising activities at schools, on TV and radio programmes to speak
about braille and related issues - school books, support teachers, special
learning materials and educational activities for blind and partially sighted
children.
Tommaso concluded his presentation by urging national members to set up similar
clubs in their countries.
Francoise Madray-Lesigne, President of the Union Francophone des Aveugles,
reported on arrangements being made in France to celebrate this important event
in 2009. A national committee, CINAL, has been set up to co-ordinate activities.
Of three major events, the first will be a conference in Paris, commencing on 4
January, Louis Braille's birthday, and ending on 8 January. The second will be
from 18 to 20 June at Coupvray, when it is planned that a charter will be
adopted, setting out ten priorities for future action to meet the needs and
highlight the aspirations of blind and partially sighted people. The third
event, it is hoped, will be a session of the French parliament, at which the
Coupvray charter will be presented to Parliament, and accepted by it as a
strategy for the future.
Mme Madray-Lesigne concluded by saying that an invitation would be issued
shortly to all EBU national members, giving them the opportunity to take part in
the events taking place in /France
The President said that the Board recommended to the general assembly that Sir
Duncan Watson, CBE (UK) and Arvo Karvinen (Finland) should be made honorary
members.
Sir John Wall spoke about Duncan. He recalled his involvement in the founding
off EBU in Hurdal in 1984; his service as President of WBU, 1988-1992; his work
drafting the UN Standard Rules; and in having laser weapons banned. The proposal
to make Duncan an honorary life member was approved by acclaim. He thanked the
assembly for the honour bestowed on him.
Poul Luneborg spoke about Arvo. He recalled his involvement in the World Council
For the Welfare of the blind; in setting up the International Blind Sports
Association; and in the founding of EBU. The proposal to make Arvo an honorary
life member was approved by acclaim. He thanked the assembly for the honour
bestowed on him.
Dr. William Rowland, President of WBU, explained that there are four levels of
certificates: platinum; diamond; gold; loyalty. They are awarded to those who
have made financial contributions which have enabled WBU to set up its permanent
office in Toronto, Canada.
He presented a gold certificate to the French Federation; and diamond
certificates to the Norwegian Association for the Blind and Partially Sighted,
to the Italian Union of the Blind and to the Swiss Federation of the Blind. He
reported that platinum certificates had already been presented to ONCE and to
RNIB, and diamond certificates to the Swedish and Danish organisations.
The President reported that this is in two categories, one to honour a person or
organisation making a major contribution to the lives of partially sighted
people; the other a major contribution to gender equality.
The jury had decided that the former should be awarded to Dr. Claude Chambet
(France); and the latter to Der Paritatische Wohlfartverband Landesverband
Thuringen (Germany). The awards will be presented at the closing banquet on 27
October. They consist of a certificate and a painting by the distinguished blind
Turkish painter, Esref Armagan. Joan Eroncel explained Esref's working methods
to the assembly.
The President reported that the Arne Husveg award had been awarded, during the
work period, to Frances Fortuin.
The President thanked the assembly for re-electing him; our hosts, the Turkish Federation of the Blind; the interpreters, guides and volunteers; the hotel staff; our EBU office staff: Mokrane Boussaid, Marie Menager, Caroline Fakhr and our project officer, Yvonne Toros; The nominations committee, and its chair, Branislav Mamojka; the scrutineers; the facilitators and rapporteurs of the workshops; the resolutions committee, and its chair John Heilbrunn, who did a particularly good job on this occasion.
Eight quick messages:
1. Workshops: these worked well, and made for a more inclusive and participative
assembly;
2. Strategic plan: the draft can be refined, in the light of the work done it;
3. Braille: there is enthusiasm about Braille, and a desire to trumpet its
importance;
4. Equality and Diversity Forum. This was clearly a success and must be
repeated.
5. Cross cutting structures: An inelegant phrase, but we will put them in place;
6. UN convention: this will be a major driver of all our activities in the
forthcoming work period;
7. East/West equality: We must do more about this in the forthcoming work period
- mechanisms z\are in place;
8. Low vision: The assembly really went up a gear during the debate on this
subject. The more people we represent, the more successful we shall be. I
believe that the culture of equality is growing within EBU. We must have a focus
group on low vision, and a conference to take forward and develop some of the
themes we looked at in our discussions.
The assembly is closed.