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Article 13 : Freedom of Thought, Expression and Opinion

Plenary intervention on access to information

February 3 2005

Kicki Nordström

World Blind Union

Thanks Mr. Chair,

On behalf of the International Disability Caucus (IDC) I will address the issue on access to information as an obligation and a responsibility also for the private sector.

To exclude obligations for the private sector for providing their information in an accessible format is the same as to exclude persons with disabilities from almost all kind of public information.

I am sure you wish to keep an obligation for pharmacy companies to label their products with warning texts that the medicine should be kept away from children. However if there is no obligation for the private sector to make their information accessible for persons with disabilities, we will never have access to such information.

On one hand you have already demanded the private sector to inform the general public of their products, but on the other hand you have limited this obligation by excluding persons with disabilities.

Why put criteria and obligations on companies, demanding them to making information known to the general public, which does not apply to Persons with disabilities?

What you have done now in Article 13, is to exclude obligations for the private sector to not making their information accessible for persons with disabilities, and the result will be equal to excluding persons with disabilities from important public information for ever!

Taking into account that more and more public services targeting the general public are now being handling over from governments to the private sector, we expect from you that you also accompany this transition with obligations for making their public services accessible for all, including persons with disabilities.

If this obligation is not included in the transition you will as a result, end up by building in a discriminating factor in this convention.

I hope this is not your intention?!

Thank you