Disability Association of Tavana (DAT) participated in the 34th session of United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, the DAT Public Relations and International Affairs Department announced. Held from February 27th up to March 24th, 2017, the Council ratified 41 resolutions and presidential statements on a wide spectrum of issues. Due to its advisory status at United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), DAT representatives participated in the UNHRC meeting in Geneva in order to get more acquainted with various aspects of this event and also to introduce and register DAT in the UN-associated agencies and departments. In addition, DAT endeavored to further enhance its interactions with various UN organs and the international entities, negotiate with peer organizations and associations, and talk with key personalities in the sidelines of this event. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, UN General Assembly Chief Peter Thomson, and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad were among the key personalities participating in this conference. As its usual annual procedure, the Organization for Defending Victims of Violence (ODVV) in Iran held a meeting with a couple of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that had obtained advisory status from the UN and made necessary coordination for participating in the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. DAT along with 14 other NGOs were ultimately able to attend this event in the European headquarter of the UN in Geneva. DAT read out its statement in the 4th day of meetings of the Council. “Human Rights” was UNHRC’s main theme for this year’s conference. However, this year’s conference was concurrent with the submission of reports by member states of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Therefore, the second week of the UNHRC’s conference was mainly concentrated on meetings and sessions which were dealing with issues related to the people with physical disabilities. Since issues related to the people with physical disabilities are amongst the most important human rights issues, different governmental departments from UNHRC member states that are dealing with such issues had dispatched their representatives to this event. DAT was the only NGO associated with disabled people that was actively participating in the Council’s meeting. DAT participated in one the meetings of the UNHRC in Geneva entitled “From Disability to Proper Job” and a video clip that was elaborating on potentials and capabilities of disabled people was shown to the audience. Seyed Mohammad Mousavi, DAT founder, delivered a speech in a panel on disabled people and said: “Influenced by the prevalent capitalistic outlook in the world, the majority of state infrastructures in our planet consider human beings as mere instruments in order to further increase their profits.” “Now, that I have access to capital, I prefer to introduce a new pattern of capitalism to the global community which is a divine pattern and based on celestial tenets,” Mousavi added. Elsewhere in his speech, the DAT founder pointed out: “Today, I am managing my company and factory based on this divine and celestial pattern. That is to say, the capital belongs to the almighty God and I am His lawyer on this capital.” “Today, we are no longer able to settle global social problems, especially those problems that are affecting the lives of people with physical disabilities, through mere charities and donations. Rather, we are required to encourage the states to shift their outlooks towards disabled people and pay due attention their rights of citizenship,” he concluded. Four DAT representatives participated in the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva and delineated their association’s policies and objectives to the audience and managed to establish effective contacts with the representatives of participating international and regional organizations, as well as, peers and national entities from other countries. By: Masoumeh Amedi

irantavana disability news

Tuesday 2017/5/9

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