Dear Partners, Friends and Colleagues,
I am completely delighted to report
that our April 9th International Workshop on
Rebuilding Sustainable Communities in Haiti after the cameras have gone was very successful, by all accounts. We
had over 150 participants from across the United States and several countries; and,
all the presentations were of exceedingly high academic and professional quality.
CRSCAD is
pleased to note that the
United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) recently
issued a statement which called on the
Haitian government as well as other humanitarian organizations to give "the disabled, elderly and other vulnerable groups such as
women and children ...preferential access to food distribution and proper
sanitation facilities" and to take "all necessary measures to ensure the
protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, and
natural disaster..."
On
our part, CRSCAD will organize an international conference from July 12-15,
2010 on
Rebuilding Sustainable Communities with the Elderly and Disabled People after Disasters. It will address the following main issues,
amongst others: The promotion of human dignity in the creation
of sustainable environments that empower the elderly and disabled people in the
aftermath of disasters; the role of women with disabilities in the formulation
and implementation of reconstruction policies after disasters; and, the participation
of children with disabilities in the development and execution of post-disaster
plans and programs.
I hope that you would be able to join
us at the conference.
I thank you.
Adenrele Awotona
Founding Director & Professor
