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"Stepping forward together into the next millennium" is a good summary of where ICEVI stands at present, especially now that AGE has caught up with us. Today (1997 Sao Paulo), as we look back to where we were yesterday (1992 Bangkok) and where we expect to be tomorrow (2002 the Netherlands), we see that much has happened to our organisation in terms of:
* Achievements
* Growth
* Expectations
At the end of my first 5-year term in office I stated in August 1992 that "what we have started is a 'movement', the full impact of which will be felt mainly during the next decade as ICEVH enters the 21st century and celebrates its 50th Anniversary in the year 2002". I also repeated the thought I had shared with participants at the 8th Quinquennial Conference in W(rzburg in August 1987 when I was first elected to the presidency: "... But working together is success." You and I have done that! Therefore, it is with a sense of great joy and gratitude that I report on some of the successes of the past five years, to which you have contributed, and highlight a few major issues.
The life-blood of ICEVI flows from two sources: its willing volunteers and its faithful supporters, and I thank God for both.
It has been my pleasure and privilege to work with a most amiable and supportive Executive Committee. Its members, all of whom hold honorary positions in the organisation, have given freely of their time and talents for the affairs of ICEVI and the spirit of camaraderie has been most encouraging. As you will see from the respective reports of the Regional & Committee Chairpersons, activities have spanned the globe and have covered a wide range of projects and programmes - from workshops, seminars and conferences to the all-important supply of Braille textbooks, equipment and assistive devices; from the planning of early childhood intervention resource material and the development of functional curricula for those with multiple disabilities to catering for the special needs of children and adults with low vision and to having a home page on the Internet! Modest achievements, perhaps, against the global scenario, but even this would not have been possible without the commitment and drive of the various chairpersons and their committee members. Moreover, in view of the very limited funds at our disposal, their accomplishments take on added significance.
My fellow Principal Officers have been wonderful - I have leant heavily on them and they have never let me down! In particular, I want to first mention Larry Campbell (Overbrook School for the Blind) who, as Vice President and Chairman of the Scientific Program Committee of this Conference, has provided good leadership, generated many ideas and worked slavishly. I am sure you will all agree that he has done an excellent job. Then there is Neville Lawson (Royal National Institute for the Blind) who, from August 1987 to the middle of 1994 fulfilled the demanding dual role of Secretary-Treasurer most admirably. His particular gift for the English language and his flair for administrative and constitutional matters have been a great strength. The decision to separate the two posts resulted in Neville continuing as Secretary and Johan Gerestein (Centrum Bartiméus) joining the team as Treasurer. Johan very quickly got into the ICEVI spirit and took over the management of our accounts, which he handled most efficiently. Therefore, we are naturally happy for Johan personally but very disappointed from the ICEVI point of view that a promotion within his Association to Bartiméushage means that he cannot continue as Treasurer. Johan sends his apologies that he cannot be with all of us this week and his best wishes for a most fruitful Conference. Last but certainly not least of the Principal Officers is our dear friend of many years, Wolf Stein, President of the organisation during the previous decade and whose many contributions, especially to the introduction and expansion of integrated education programmes in the developing countries, are fondly remembered. Prior to the Bangkok Conference, Wolf had already asked to be excused from active involvement in ICEVI for health and other personal reasons but I am sure he has been following the growth within ICEVI and is with his many friends, in spirit, who are gathered here.
However much the levels of commitment and volunteerism to ICEVI, we would not have been able to achieve and grow as much as we have without the generous financial support of our donors, especially the regulars during the current quinquennium: Christoffel-Blindenmission (CBM), Foundation Dark & Light, Hilton/Perkins Program (publication of The Educator), Organizacion Nacional de Ciegos de España (ONCE), Royal National Institute for the Blind, Sight Savers International, and Tomteboda Resource Centre.
In addition, the organisations for which our Principal Officers and some of our Regional & Committee Chairpersons work have kindly granted them time off to deal with ICEVI matters and have also generously absorbed most or all of the costs involved. Notable amongst them are: Bartiméus Association, Christoffel-Blindenmission, Overbrook School for the Blind, Perkins School for the Blind, Royal National Institute for the Blind, Sight Savers International, National Swedish Agency for Special Education (SIH), Theofaan International, University of Melbourne (University College) and Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya College of Education. It is appropriate, at this point, that I acknowledge with special thanks the financial support and the free hand which my employers, CBM, have given me to carry out my ICEVI duties and responsibilities over the past ten years.
ICEVI has observer status in The Partnership Committee of Non-Governmental International Organisations Dedicated to the Prevention of Blindness and The Education & Rehabilitation of the Blind. Our representatives have been Herman Gresnigt, Chairperson of the European Region, and Vice President Larry Campbell, who was appointed to chair their Working Group on Education & Rehabilitation. It is tasked with the important responsibility of developing strategies in Education & Rehabilitation for developing countries.
Our links with the World Blind Union have continued to strengthen. Of particular significance was:
* ICEVI's strong representation
at their World Forum on Literacy of Blind & Visually Impaired People,
when the WBU/ICEVI Joint Educational Policy Statement, which had been worked
on by WBU's representatives and ICEVI's Gladys Nyaga, M N G Mani and Larry
Campbell, was adopted, and
* Our participation in the
4th General Assembly of the WBU at which I was invited to sit on the panel
to respond to the topic: WBU & the Doors of Knowledge - The Challenge
of Literacy & Education for All.
Three immediate results
of the above strengthening of relationships are:
1. The printing and supply
of a complete set of reading books in Braille for Bolivia, which was undertaken
as a joint project with ULAC/WBU, ONCE and others.
2. The appointment of ICEVI's
former Vice President, Dr Susan J Spungin, and Regional Chairperson for
Latin America, Lucia Piccione to the joint Committee on Minimum Standards
of Competency for Teachers.
3. WBU's appointment of
Enrique Elissalde, Susan Spungin and Grace Chan as their liaison
persons for the International Agencies.
We are glad that the International
Agency for the Prevention of Blindness is officially represented at our
Conference although its President, Dr R Pararajasegeram, is unable to join
us. ICEVI is a member of the Board and we are very glad of this reciprocal
relationship because of the importance of the prevention of blindness and
sight restoration, wherever possible. We also see the need for closer
collaboration and co-operation between the two disciplines in the development
of comprehensive programmes of service delivery, particularly in the developing
countries where the incidence of blindness is high and resources, both
human and material, are very limited.
A further achievement since Bangkok 1992 is the completion of the Low Vision Kit - the joint WHO/Programme for the Prevention of Blindness and University of Melbourne/Department of Ophthalmology project which grew out of an ICEVI initiative in 1990 and which was supported by ICEVI colleagues in various parts of the world during the field testing and with valuable feedback to the project head, Dr Jill Keeffe.
The WHO estimate is that for every 100 persons who are blind, there are 290 who have low vision. The field of Low Vision services is still relatively new in many developing countries. Hence, we find many school children being forced to read Braille and to function as though they have no useful vision. Therefore, the Executive Committee took a principle decision that Low Vision services should be an integral part of ICEVI's main mandate.
Our links with the other two UN Agencies, UNESCO and UNICEF have continued. Special mention should be made of the following:
* Through participation in the Preparatory Committee meetings and the WBU, ICEVI provided input for the World Summit for Social Development and submitted a Joint Statement on Disability issues.
Of particular importance to us are the three main goals of the Copenhagen Declaration and Program of Action:
1. Eradication of Absolute
Poverty
2. Enhancing Social Integration
3. Promoting Full &
Productive Employment
We should make it our responsibility to ensure that governments:
* include persons with visual
impairment and other disabilities in all programmes which address the above
key issues because people who are disabled are often amongst the poorest
in a community, they are usually not integrated into society, and they
are likely to be the first to be retrenched, should they have a job.
* accept one of the implementation
strategies - the principle of 20:20, i.e. donor countries agree to target
20% of their aid towards social programmes while recipient countries must
allocate 20% of their national budgets to social spending.
* The Salamanca Statement
and Framework For Action on Special Needs Education organised by UNESCO
and the Ministry of Education & Science, Spain, at which ICEVI was
invited to present a paper on the Role of Voluntary Organisations.
The concept and philosophy of Inclusive Schools was formalised and adopted.
I am glad that Full Inclusion is one of the ten topics on which we will
be focusing on Wednesday.
* The proposed project of
teacher training and the expansion of educational programmes for children
with visual impairment in Francophone speaking countries. It was
a joint initiative by UNESCO and ICEVI which got off to a good start with
a positive report by Ana Maria Benard da Costa. Here I must admit
our disappointment that, to date, ICEVI has not succeeded in generating
sufficient interest among the NGOs, with the exception of CBM, to support
this proposal. Therefore, if nothing comes out of this Conference,
particularly as a result of the meetings of the delegates and participants
from the Africa Region, the new Executive Committee will have to decide
whether to abandon this project or attempt to revive it among our international
partners.
In the Asia-Pacific region ICEVI has continued to play an active role in UN-ESCAP's Regional Inter-agency Committee for Asia & The Pacific (RICAP) Subcommittee on Disability. We helped in the development of the Agenda for Action in conjunction with the Asian & Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons (1993-2002) and have been promoting it actively at every opportunity. I am glad to report that up to April 30, 1997 thirty five countries have signed the Proclamation on the Full Participation & Equality of People with Disabilities in the Asian & Pacific Region.
Growth. At the last World Conference the Executive Committee was given a special mandate, the result of which was the adoption of a new name - ICEVI - and a revised Constitution which had been previously circulated widely among our numerous friends and colleagues for comment. Thus, in less than two years after our Bangkok meeting, the technical change took place. Moreover, not long after, the Executive Committee decided that ICEVI should be incorporated as a Stichting (Foundation), with limited liability, and that it should be registered in the Netherlands. This took place on November 24, 1995. The Articles of Association are very similar to the 'old' Constitution.
Over the last 5 years ICEVI has become more widely known and its activities, both regionally and internationally, have increased in number and in range.
Enough about 'yesterday'
and more about 'tomorrow' later, so this brings me to 'today' - the 10th
World Conference here in Sao Paulo, the first time in our 45-year history
that we are meeting in Latin America. So we are delighted to
have with us such a large contingent of Brazilian and other Latin American
participants, in addition to representatives from over 50 countries (at
the time of preparing this report): parents and professionals who are ready
to share; ready to stride forward and to strive for a common goal - the
education of ALL children who are visually impaired.
Time and space do not permit
me to list all those who deserve to be thanked for the tremendous amount
of work which they have put in so willingly and so cheerfully in planning
and preparing for this Conference in order to ensure that it is professionally
enriching and socially fulfilling. In my brief Welcome Message I
have made mention of the two main committees - the Scientific Program Committee
and the Host Committee - and their respective chairpersons, Larry Campbell
and Victor Siaulys. I know how hard they have had to work, they and
their respective teams - army of helpers would probably be more appropriate.
Then there is our renowned Keynote Speaker, Dr Ken Jernigan, and the numerous
other presenters at plenary and workshop sessions, the Focus Day and the
poster sessions, the generous sponsors and exhibitors, etc, etc.
To one and all, a word of deep appreciation.
I believe it was Heraclitus who said, "The only constant is change". Therefore, in order to strengthen ICEVI and to stimulate further growth of its activities, the Executive Committee appointed a Development Committee under the Chairmanship of Herman Gresnigt and added Coen de Jong as its Secretary. The result is the ICEVI Policy Paper, which you have before you in a very concise form.
Coen has put a lot of work into this document and we thank him for it. We urge you to give it serious thought and to share with us your reactions. You entrusted us in Bangkok in 1992 with a special mandate. The Executive Committee now feels that bolder steps need to be taken as ICEVI enters the next millennium and a further phase in its development. I ask you to support the general principles involved so that the Executive Committee can start to work through the various proposals before coming to any decisions.
I am confident that under the new leadership which will be elected on Friday, August 8, ICEVI will continue to Achieve more and more and to Grow bigger and stronger. We have great Expectations of you so that we can step forward together into the next century as ICEVI reaches the 'golden age' of Fifty.
As this report draws to a
close, I say, "Adeus meus amigos e muito obrigado! Adios amigos y
gracias! Good-bye my friends and thank you!" I can think of no better
parting words than to re-quote from the conclusion of my Message in the
Winter 1997 issue of The Educator: "I thank my God in all my remembrance
of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all ... thankful for your
partnership ... from the first day until now." (Philippians, Chap.
1: 3-5).