24 May 1989

15th plenary meeting

United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling 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, by which it proclaimed the period 1983-1992 United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons, and other relevant General Assembly and Economic and Social Council resolutions,

Recalling also General Assembly resolution 43/98 of 8 December 1988, by which the Assembly adopted a list of priority activities and programmes for the second half of the Decade and requested the Secretary-General to undertake a feasibility study on the substantive, financial and administrative implications of alternative ways of marking the end of the Decade in 1992, and to submit the study to the Assembly at its forty-fifth session,

Noting with satisfaction the strengthening of the Disabled Persons Unit of the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs through the generous financial support of some Governments,

Noting with appreciation the installation at the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs of a Thiel Braille Printer donated by a foundation,

Noting with deep concern that many developing countries are facing enormous difficulties in dealing with increasing numbers of disabled people, and recognizing the need for developed countries and appropriate United Nations bodies to take this into account when planning bilateral and multilateral development co-operation,

Recognizing the pivotal role of the United Nations in promoting the exchange of information, experience and expertise and closer regional and interregional co-operation to advance the status and welfare of disabled persons,

Stressing that the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs is the focal point within the United Nations system for the implementation and monitoring of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons,

Mindful that the incidence of disability rapidly increases with age, that the problems facing the aging are very often similar to those facing the disabled and that the number of aged persons affected by disability is increasing,

Mindful also of the often extremely difficult position of disabled women,

Taking note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General on the progress made in monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons for the second half of the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons,

1. Calls upon Member States, bodies and organizations of the United Nations system and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to further the practical implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons during the second half of the Decade, based on the list of priorities and programmes set forth in the annex to General Assembly resolution 43/98;

2. Urges Member States, bodies and organizations of the United Nations system and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to provide all possible support to the awareness and fund-raising campaigns to give added momentum to the Decade;

3. Requests the Secretary-General to strengthen the clearing-house function of the Secretariat by exploring possibilities, including the financial implications of implementing an international information system, and by encouraging Member States and organizations that have acquired experience in the disability field to inform the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs of their experience;

4. Requests the Secretary-General to disseminate relevant information, on a pilot basis, within existing resources and with voluntary contributions, on the activities of the Disabled Persons Unit of the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs in forms accessible to blind persons in order to contribute to the Secretary-General's examination of ways of making United Nations meetings, information materials and documentation accessible to disabled persons and the financial implications thereof, as requested by the General Assembly in paragraph 7 of its resolution 43/98;

5. Requests the Secretary-General to determine the financial implications of the implementation of the recommendations contained in the three studies on accessibility to United Nations buildings, documents and information by persons with sensory disabilities, prepared in conjunction with the International Year of Disabled Persons 1981, pursuant to General Assembly resolution 35/133 of 11 December 1980;

6. Requests the Secretary-General and Member States to pay special attention during the second half of the Decade to the functioning and reactivation of national bodies for disabled persons and to the development and strengthening of powerful and influential organizations of disabled persons;

7. Calls upon Member States to give due consideration to the close interrelationship between aging and disability and to give attention to the application of measures aimed at avoiding or curing disabilities of aging persons, and invites Member States that have conducted research in this field to provide the Secretariat with information on the results;

8. Also calls upon Member States and appropriate United Nations organizations and bodies, when planning their development co-operation and similar projects, to give increased attention to the needs of disabled persons in developing countries;

9. Invites the Secretary-General, in connection with the preparation of the feasibility study of alternative ways to mark the end of the Decade in 1992, to convene an expert meeting in 1990, within the existing resources, inter alia, to advise on the best possible ways of marking the end of the Decade and of continuing the work in the disability field;

10. Requests the Secretary-General and Member States to give particular attention to improving the situation of vulnerable groups, as outlined in the World Programme of Action, emphasizing the need for social justice and the participation of those groups in each sector of society;

11. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that contributions, in kind or cash, related to the Decade are channelled into the Voluntary Fund for the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons, already established by the General Assembly; such contributions may be earmarked by the donors for special purposes;

12. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Commission for Social Development at its thirty-second session on the implementation of the present resolution.