26 May 1983

Decade of Disabled Persons

The Economic and Social Council,

Taking into consideration General Assembly resolutions 37/52 of 3 December 1982, by which the Assembly adopted the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons, and 37/53 of 3 December 1982 on the implementation of the World Programme of Action, in which the Assembly proclaimed the period 1983-1992 United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons,

Taking note with appreciation of the reports of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons and on the prevention of disability and on activities concerning disabled persons and of the conclusions reached in those reports,

Concerned with the necessity of keeping alive the momentum generated by the International Year of Disabled Persons in order to ensure the continuous implementation of the Year's main theme of "Full participation and equality",

1. Requests the Secretary-General to submit a progress report containing national experiences in the implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons and the related activities of the United Nations and other international organizations, to be submitted to the Economic and Social Council through the Commission for Social Development at its twenty-ninth session;

2. Requests that that report should integrate in one document all other documentation on the subject, such as that requested by the General Assembly in its resolution 31/82 of 13 December 1976 on the implementation of the declaration on the rights of disabled persons, and by the Economic and Social Council in resolution 1979/14 of 9 May 1979, on prevention of disability, and that it should include a brief account of the progress achieved in developing criteria for monitoring the World Programme of Action;

3. Calls upon all governmental and non-governmental organizations interested in disabled persons to take action to implement the objectives of the World Programme of Action and the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons, and invites full and direct participation of disabled persons themselves;

4. Requests the Secretary-General to promote these activities, paying special attention to the situation of disabled persons in the developing countries, in accordance with the recommendations of the Vienna Affirmative Action Plan adopted by the World Symposium of Experts on Technical Co-operation among Developing Countries and Technical Assistance in Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation, held at Vienna from 12 to 23 October 1981;

5. Requests the Secretary-General to monitor and support the implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons by enlisting extrabudgetary resources.