Following the resolve of ICEVI to
strengthen its regional structure, the seven regions begun planning activities
to increase the visibility of ICEVI in the regions. All seven regions have successfully formed
regional committees and some have even formed sub-regional and national
committees.
It is gratifying that The Drs.
Richard Charles and Esther Yewpick Lee Charitable Foundation has made available
to ICEVI substantial grants for organizing awareness programmes about the
capabilities of persons with visual impairment, facilitating capacity building
programmes
for teachers and for developing innovative approaches in service delivery
systems. This is the first time that
ICEVI has received a grant of this nature and the NGDOs working in this area
are invited to consider matching grants
to help develop the initiatives further.
To date, the regional chairpersons have formulated more than 100 project
proposals for implementation in 2003.
The Africa
region has already planned a range of activities for the various sub-regions. The
Africa regional
committee is meeting in February to approve the plan of action for the region
in the year 2003. ICEVI is proposing to
carry out research in the Africa region to develop
appropriate service delivery systems to benefit children with visual impairment
who are living in the hard to reach areas.
In order to provide special impetus to the initiatives in the region,
the first meeting of the executive committee of ICEVI for the quadrennium will
be held in Stellenbosch, South
Africa in March 2003. Prior to the EXCO meeting, the Africa
region will be convening its Sub-Regional Committee to formulate action plans
for implementation of educational services in the southern part of the
continent of Africa.
The East Asia
region has already formulated country plan for the Philippines. A feature of this plan is the collective
involvement of Government bodies, parent groups, non-governmental organizations
and others to improve services for children with visual impairment in the
country. This cooperative approach is
vital if services are to be effective.
During 2003, the region is proposing to organize programmes under The
Lee Foundation Scheme in the Philippines,
Indonesia, and China
and extend capacity building programmes to other regions in the future. The Parents Advocates of Visually Impaired
Children (PAVIC) in the Philippines
is active in encouraging parents to enrol their children with visual impairment
in schools. This initiative is
commendable and ICEVI is encouraging similar efforts in other parts of the
world too.
The Latin America
region has conducted a series of planning meetings to formulate action plans
for the entire quadrennium. The region
wants to focus more on capacity building programmes for teachers especially in
the areas of education of low vision children, services for children with
multiple disabilities, orientation and mobility, and subject areas for
effective schooling. It has also taken
up the task of translating appropriate reading materials into the regional
languages in order to benefit the local teachers and other professionals. The region is enlisting the support of
Government and NGDOs working in the region to help improve educational services
for children with visual impairment.
The West Asia
region is proposing to undertake some capacity building programmes as well as
development projects such as those relating to community based rehabilitation
and the impact of information technology on educational services for persons
with visual impairment etc. Following
the joint ICEVI-Deafblind International Asia Region conference held in 2000,
the region has already taken steps to organize another joint conference of
ICEVI and DbI in Dhaka in 2004. The region is motivating country
representatives to work closely with the Government organizations to expand
services as the West Asia region has the largest number
of persons with visual impairment in the world.
Besides these four regions, which
are implementing projects under the Lee Foundation Scheme, the other regions of
ICEVI are also very active.
The Europe
region has its own website and has produced a brochure of information about its
work. The regular regional newsletter is
available to members from Europe and others outside Europe
on request. The region has already
convened a meeting of its Regional Committee and resolved that the motto of
ICEVI should be projected in all its programmes organized at the regional and
country level.
The Pacific region has hundreds
of hard to reach islands. In
collaboration with the South Pacific Educators of the Visually Impaired
(SPEVI), the region will be organising a regional conference in January 2003
where issues relating to education of persons with visual impairment will be
addressed and the members will also work out plans for the effective
involvement of ICEVI for the active promotion of services in the region.
The North America
and Caribbean region is planning to work with other
similar professional organizations in the region and organize a number of
capacity building programmes. To meet
the challenge of sharing information between members who are so spread out, the
region is proposing to make more effective use of electronic media. The
Regional Chairperson shared the strategic plan of ICEVI at the World Blind
Union Officers Meeting in Cuba
and other conferences. She also
represented ICEVI at the UN World Bank Conference in Washington
D.C. in December 2002.
The
regional chairs realise that involving government agencies and voluntary bodies
at a local level is crucial for upscaling services for persons with visual
impairment. The progress made by the
regions is encouraging and ICEVI is pleased with the enthusiasm and commitment
already shown by the regional chairs.
There will be more activities in the regions once the implementation of
project proposals under the Lee Foundation scheme gets underway. ICEVI will be happy to provide an update on
progress in the next issue of The Educator.