DPI_world_summit

Persons with disabilities in Antigua and Barbuda and the Caribbean Region represented at the Disabled Peoples' International (DPI) World Summit 2004

Regional Development Officer of the North America/Caribbean Region of the Disabled Peoples' International (DPI) and Public Relations Officer of the Antigua & Barbuda Association of Persons with Disabilities (ABAPD), Mr. Leslie A. Emanuel, will represent persons with disabilities in Antigua and Barbuda, and the Caribbean Region at the Disabled Peoples’ International World Summit 2004 to be held under the theme Diversity Within at the Winnipeg Convention Center in Winnipeg, Canada from Sept. 8-10, 2004.

The event will celebrate diversity of cultures and peoples and focus on the issues of under-represented groups: women, youth, Indigenous, and Arab peoples with disabilities. Included among the world-class speakers, will be the UN Special Rapporteur on Disability, Sheikha Hessa Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Thani. Participants of the World Summit will exchange ideas, assess models of empowerment, and make recommendations for the future. The Summit has the important function of providing global training on human rights and development for disabled individuals worldwide.

Mr. Emanuel and his personal care assistant, Ms. Michelle McGarrell, leave Antigua on Sat., 4^th Sept., 2004 and he will participate in and contribute to the following events:

1. Observe the second of the two-day World Council meetings on Sept. 6;

2. Chair a Youth Retreat on Sept. 7;

3. Moderate a Workshop Session for Youth on Sept. 9 entitled "Issues of Inclusion in the Disability Movement" on Sept. 9;

4. Participate in a Regional Development Officers’ Training Program from Sept. 11-14, 2004 .

Mr. Emanuel will join representatives from 10 of the national assemblies that make up the North America/Caribbean Region of DPI from the countries of the Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States of America . The Region is comprised of 14 national assemblies and the countries not represented are Belize, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Vincent of the Grenadines because of funding constraints.

For more information about the Summit, visit the Summit web site at http://summit.dpi.org