A/HRC/16/38 programming. The Guidance Note is also intended to support collective UNCT action and coordination at country level to assist Member States, contribute to the coherence of United Nations work, and help members of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) to provide more targeted support to UNCTs. C. Cooperation in partnership with regional organizations 31. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) supports members and associate member Governments on developing approaches that promote the participation of persons with disabilities in the development process30. This support is provided through operational activities, encouragement of networking and collaborative action, identification of good practice, and advisory services on the implementation of the Agenda for Action for the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, specifically the second Decade (2003-2012)31. In this context, the Biwako Millennium Framework for Action towards an Inclusive, Barrier-free and Rights-based Society for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific (BMF) was adopted in 2002 as a regional policy guideline for the second Decade. The Framework for Action recognized the Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability (APCD) – a joint collaboration of the Thai Government with multi-stake holders such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), UN-ESCAP and non-governmental organizations – as a coordinating agency which provides capacity building of persons with disabilities, community-based rehabilitation and accessibility to information and communication technologies (ICT). The APCD also facilitates interregional cooperation between the Asia-Pacific region, the African region, the Arab region, and the Latin American and Caribbean countries. 32. The African Union declared the first decade of the new millennium (1999-2009) the African Decade of Disabled Persons (ADDP). In 2001 the Labour and Social Affairs Commission of the African Union along with its African Rehabilitation Institute and the ILO developed a Continental Plan of Action (CPOA) to guide the Member States of the African Union on how to implement the African Decade. The adoption of the ADDP placed responsibility on African States to implement Decade Program activities. In October 2008, the ADDP was extended until 201932. The ADDP’s Secretariat works in partnership with African governments, civil society organizations and DPOs. The Secretariat has worked on the formulation of disability indicators, the development of a training manual for disability research and research reports in the field of health, education, HIV/AIDS, training for journalists, the development of resources to benefit the work of DPOs in the area of disability law and policy and a digital story workshop for participants including parents and youth from nine countries. The African Decade has also promoted the establishment of disability networks between continental DPOs of previously marginalized disability groups33. The African Union, the Pan African Parliament and Parliamentarians in different countries placed the disability agenda at the centre of policy making34. 30 31 32 33 34 See report “Disability and International Cooperation and Development: A review of Policies and Practices”, the World Bank and Cooperazione Italiana allo Sviluppo, June 2010. Idem. See www.add.org.uk/newsStory.asp?ID=10095. See Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled at www.safod.org/African%20Decade/African%20Decade.htm. Idem. 11