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cooperation related to the Convention and to identify challenges and best practices. The
rest of this subsection provides some examples of international cooperation in partnership
with United Nations agencies while the following subsection focuses on regional-level
cooperation.
23.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) applies a “tripartite-plus approach” in
cooperating with and supporting governments, social partners and DPOs. It is involved, for
example, in the Promoting the Employability and Employment of People with Disabilities
through effective Legislation (PEPDEL) project, which is active in China, Ethiopia,
Uganda, Tanzania, Thailand, Viet Nam and Zambia. The project strengthens national
capacity, building tools to increase capacity of constituents regarding law-making and
policy design, as well as strengthening implementation. Supported by the PEPDEL project,
a Centre for Disability Law and Policy (CDLP) has been established at the University of the
Western Cape, South Africa, to act as a regional resource of information on disability
rights. The University carries out research and organizes training courses, and it will offer
a Master’s course in disability law and policy from 2011.
24.
The ILO, in cooperation with the Irish Aid Partnership Programme, has
implemented the technical cooperation programme Promoting Decent Work for People
with Disabilities through a Disability Inclusion Support Service (INCLUDE) since 2008.
The project is ongoing in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Laos, Uganda, Tanzania, Viet Nam
and Zambia and aims to bring about greater inclusion of women and men with disabilities
in mainstream small enterprise development, microfinance, vocational training,
employment promotion, poverty reduction and rural development programmes through
sensitizing policymakers and service providers to disability rights and through changing
attitudes to persons with disabilities through disability equality training.
25.
The World Health Organization (WHO) was actively involved in the first Asia
Pacific Congress on Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR), held in Bangkok in February
2009. It brought together representatives of CBR projects in 51 countries to foster
information sharing, research and development on CBR. The WHO Regional Office for the
Western Pacific developed a Regional Framework for Action on CBR, which contains
recommendations for key areas identified in the Bangkok Declaration issued at the
Congress. The WHO Pacific Islands Mental Health Network (PIMHnet) brings together 16
nations to work on advocacy, human resources and training, mental health policy, planning,
legislation, and service development. PIMHnet has forged strategic partnerships with
NGOs and other regional agencies to reduce the existing fragmentation of activities for
mental health and address the treatment gap.
26.
In the first semester of 2009, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
facilitated two meetings of a Stakeholder’s Platform between rights-holders and
representatives from organizations of persons with sensory disabilities in order to explore
how best to increase the access of persons with sensory disabilities to documents. The
Platform includes stakeholders from different regions and encompasses three working
subgroups, on trusted intermediaries, technology and capacity building. One of the major
achievements of the Platform so far has been the preparation of a Pilot Project of Trusted
Intermediaries to facilitate the cross-border transfer of copyright works in accessible
formats among various national institutions serving the blind and visually impaired
community. Another area of international cooperation is the current negotiation of a new
treaty led by WIPO on copyrights exemptions to allow access to copyrighted contents by
persons with disabilities via digital means.
27.
Submissions also revealed cooperation delivered through international organizations
at the country level. In Moldova, the United Nations Country Team has prioritized
assistance to implement the Convention: before the State ratified the Convention in July
2010, an inter-agency team worked on clarifying the conceptual and legal elements of the
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