A SYMBOL OF SOLIDARITY
We are happy to inform the readers
of The Educator that the International Council for Education of People with
Visual Impairment (ICEVI) conducted its Golden Jubilee Conference in the
The general assembly unanimously elected Mr. Lawrence
F. Campbell from the
The executive committee which met in February 2002 in
Bensheim endorsed the new realignment of ICEVI regions and as a result,
Regional Chairpersons were elected by the delegates for
1. Wilfred Maina ..
2. Mavis
3. Lucia Piccione ..
4. Eberhard Fuchs ..
5. Susan Spungin ..
6. Jill Keeffe .. Pacific
7. Bhusan Punani ..
During the Conference, a brochure
on the Strategic Plan and a book describing the history of ICEVI were also
released. ICEVI is determined to achieve
the goals of the strategic plan and be a catalyst for the global initiative to
develop educational opportunities for all children with visual impairment by
2015. ICEVI is seeking the support of
Governments and Non-Governmental Development Organizations (NGDOs) across the
globe to realize its goals. The generous
grant from The Drs. Richard Charles and Esther Yewpick Lee Charitable
Foundation meant for implementing awareness and capacity building programmes in
the
At the Conference a number of
useful resolutions were passed which have ramifications for the activities of
ICEVI in the future. The salient
features of the resolutions are presented below for the benefit of the readers
of The Educator.
1. ICEVI welcomes moves to
develop a comprehensive and integral UN Convention on the rights of disabled
people. It urges that the right to
education for all disabled people, including those with visual impairment, be
given a prominent place in such a convention.
Furthermore, it calls for the process leading to the development of a
convention to be an inclusive and not just a top-down one, involving disabled
people widely throughout the world, and encourages all ICEVI members, through
their countries and regions, to become involved and make an effective input
into this process on behalf of children and young persons with visual
impairment.
2. ICEVI should press the
United Nations and other agencies to ensure that blind and visually impaired
children are taught by qualified teachers and support assistants.
3. Given the huge amount of
money spent on weapons and ammunition, the threat to the lives of millions of
people, the fact that wars cause many more millions of people to become
disabled, as well as the disruption to children who struggle to survive and who
are cut off from any attempt at education, ICEVI should promote campaigns to
bring home to governments the need for money to be spent on education and
health rather than on the battlefield.
4. All of ICEVI’s
activities should be directed toward enabling those who are visually impaired
to achieve equality of access and equality of opportunity that will allow
freedom of choice in both private and professional life.
5. Whereas governments in
developing countries have recognized the role and contribution of NGOs and Civil Societies in providing
support to the planning and management of programs for visually impaired
children and adults, ICEVI should:
6. Education of blind and
visually impaired children can be enhanced if it is strongly linked with
community-based delivery of services.
7. Whereas education of
blind and visually impaired students in inclusive settings is a desirable goal;
and Whereas some students will need preparation for successful inclusion in
education and in life; and
Whereas educators of
blind and visually impaired children need to advocate for and assist in the
implementation of meaningful and responsible inclusion; and
Whereas inclusive
education is one of an array of placement options necessary to meet the needs
of blind and visually impaired students;
ICEVI should support
and endorse the necessity of a full array of educational placement options in
order to meet the unique and individual needs of all blind and visually
impaired children.
8. Whereas children and
youth with visual impairments and blindness have unique and non-academic needs,
as well as academic needs, the curriculum should be shaped to take all of these
needs into account.
9. Whereas certified
Orientation and Mobility (O&M) Specialists have received extensive training
which includes empirically sound practices for effective use of residual vision
and visual efficiency; and
Whereas O&M
Specialists have extensive training in the techniques of orientation and
mobility; and
Whereas any remaining
light perception or other vision is part of an individual’s tools for
orientation and safe, efficient travel; and
Whereas it is counter-productive
to inhibit natural tendencies to use all available senses, including remaining
vision for orientation and safe, efficient travel;
Therefore, be it
resolved that blindfold orientation and mobility training is counter to best
practice in orientation and mobility training for blind and visually impaired
children, youth and adults.
10. That ICEVI promote
throughout the world the principles proposed for
11. That ICEVI adopt the term
“Early Childhood Intervention” in place of “Early Intervention”.
12. Whereas the early years
of a child’s life are primarily managed by parents and family; Whereas
governments, especially in developing countries, have not included these years
in government commitments;
And given the
importance of early intervention for visually impaired children and the danger
of over-professionalization due to compartmentalized professional support,
ICEVI should consider:
13. That ICEVI should
consider re-establishing an Early Intervention group and provide:
14. ICEVI should be
encouraged to develop a section of its web-site devoted to early childhood
intervention programs and support groups, and also a chat room for parents of
children with visual impairments and professionals who work with parent groups.
15. Recognizing the
significant role of parents in the education of their children and the fact
that parents want to be partners with ICEVI, the EXCO should;
16. ICEVI should give high
priority to improving access to Braille. In addition, ICEVI should lobby at the
global level for exemption of Braille materials from copyright requirements,
and Braille production materials and equipment from all taxes and duties.
17. ICEVI should support the
distribution, recycling, and repair of materials to support education and
social inclusion of all children and young people throughout the world.
18. Whereas
ICEVI works very hard on creating ‘best chances’ for visually impaired
children: The ICEVI EXCO is therefore
urged to consider the idea of establishing an ICEVI council of children and
youth whose views and opinions would guide the ICEVI decision-making process.
19. Whereas the North American Caribbean Region
(NACR) has always supported ICEVI as a global organization meeting the needs of
children with blindness and low vision world-wide; and
Whereas the NACR has
benefited for 50 years from the diversity of information, resources, and
individuals attending ICEVI Quinquennial Global Conferences; and
Whereas the NACR
believes in the importance of ICEVI Regional Conferences in the interim but
feels that they cannot fulfil the same goals as the global conferences;
Accordingly, the ICEVI
EXCO is urged to continue to hold one global conference every four years in
order to ensure the broadest coming together of all cultures, and information
on a broad diversity of educational programs and teaching methods in order to benefit
all.
20. That all future
conference venues for ICEVI are made accessible for all participants with
visual impairments and blindness by providing the accommodations and
adaptations necessary to ensure their dignity and maximize their opportunity
for independence and full, meaningful participation.
ICEVI
will be initiating efforts at all levels to see that the resolutions are put
into action. Readers will be appraised
of the follow-up activities from time-to- time.
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