São Paulo State Secretariat for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and G3ict Announce Five-Year Technical Cooperation in the Field of Disability Rights

ATLANTA (March 10, 2011) —

The São Paulo State Secretariat for the Rights of the Person with Disability (SEDPcD) and the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies (G3ict) have announced a five-year technical cooperation plan to facilitate the creation of a regional network and partnerships in Brazil and Latin America aimed at the social inclusion of persons with disabilities through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

This cooperation contributes to the implementation of the Digital Accessibility Agenda defined by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). To-date, 99 countries worldwide have ratified the CRPD, including Brazil which has been a strong proponent of the CRPD and one of the very first States Parties to sign and ratify it in 2008. The implementation of the CRPD is therefore a top priority for both the Federal Government of Brazil and State Governments such as the State of São Paulo and its Secretariat for the Rights of the Person with Disability established with the mandate to guarantee access of persons with disabilities in the State of São Paulo to all goods, products and services existing in society, including digital accessibility and assistive technologies solutions.

By outlining the terms of their technical cooperation, G3ict and SEDPcD have agreed to carry out common activities whose main objectives are promoting the sharing of information in matters of accessible and assistive ICTs in cooperation with industry, persons with disabilities and other interested stakeholders; fostering greater technical cooperation between Brazilian organizations and their international counterparts, in particular in matters of standardization; and supporting Latin American policy makers in establishing policies and programs in application of the CRPD. The forms of the cooperation will include developing a Latin American edition of the e-Accessibility Policy Toolkit for Persons with Disabilities with G3ict supplying English contents in cooperation with the Intnernational Telecommunication Union and the São Paulo State Secretariat providing Portuguese and Spanish translations. Furthermore, the partners will work to conduct surveys and publish joint white papers on new technologies, successful case studies,policies and programs in the Latin American Region.
 
State Secretary Dr. Linamara Rizzo Battistella emphasized: “This technical cooperation plan with G3ict will provide an opportunity for SEDPcD to further enhance its goal of becoming a world reference in organizing,implementing and monitoring the social inclusion of persons with disabilities in the field of digital accessibility, in particular through the “Center of Excellence on Technology and Innovation for Persons with Disabilities” (CETI-D). Since G3ict participated in the CETI-D initial planning in early 2010, we want to continue fostering the bilateral and multilateral dialogue and interchange in the technical, scientific, technological and financial areas to support investment in R&D for assistive technologies, as mandated by the CRPD.” 

According to Axel Leblois, Executive Director of G3ict, the partnership “will provide a strong foundation to promote ICT accessibility for persons with disabilities in both the State of São Paulo and in all of Latin America. Through its many programs for persons with disabilities and the creation of CETI-D, the Government of the State of São Paulo is a pioneer in promoting the creative use of technology to better serve persons with disabilities and ensure the attainment of their full potential. G3ict is particularly pleased to be associated with the Secretariat for the Rights of the Person with Disability of the State of São Paulo.”

Earlier in 2010, G3ict had assisted the São Paulo State Secretariat for the Rights of the Person with Disability and the State Secretariat of Housing, in collaboration with Fondazione Rosselli Americas (FRA), in organizing a seminar aimed at gathering intelligence, generate national and international consensus, and garner support toward the establishment of CETI-D. The two-day international seminar, entitled "The Knowledge Economy from the Perspective of Inclusion," brought together in São Paulo on March 18-19, 2010 more than 250 distinguished international and Brazilian assistive technologies experts, government, industry, disabled persons organizations, academia, NGOs, and international financing institutions representatives. In October 2010, G3ict took part in the session "CETI-D – Networks and National and International Partners" featured at the “II International Meeting on Technology and Innovation for Persons with Disabilities” hold in São Paulo and organized by the SEDPcD.