The World Blind Union has received an award for "Marrakesh Treaty Ratification and Implementation Campaign” as an innovative policy on accessibility.
WBU jointly with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) received the award from ZeroProject, an initiative of the Essl Foundation which focuses on the rights of persons with disabilities globally. The awards were presented at Zero Project Conference 2018 on "Accessibility" held in Vienna, 21 – 23 February 2018.
Upon receiving the award, the WBU President Dr. Fred Schroeder, observed that digital revolution offers the possibility of dramatically expanding access to print materials, but national copyright laws do not permit the cross-border sharing of accessible print works. However, countries that have ratified the Treaty can exchange materials in accessible formats across borders.
To date, 35 countries have ratified the Treaty including some European countries; Russia and Moldova. Recently, the European Union voted to ratify the Treaty. 25 of the 28 member countries of the EU are expected to have ratified the Treaty by end of this year. The WBU congratulates the European Blind Union for spearheading intense advocacy campaigns in the region to push for ratification of the Treaty.
For more information and resources, including the WBU Guide to the Marrakesh Treaty, please visit the WBU website. The guide is available in several languages. WBU wishes to thank members of the European Blind Union for translating the guide into Russian, Portuguese, Hungarian and Czech.