What is ASEAN disability forum?

The Association of South East Asian Nations (refer - ASEAN) is an influential political and economic power that has about 100 million population and 1,500 billion dollars in GDP. On the other hand there are about 60 million citizens with disabilities living in this region, according to the UN estimation. Though ASEAN is an economically emerging region, most of this population is still marginalised from the mainstream of the society.

Persons with disabilities , especially those requiring intensive support , are denied to have access to their communities, but are cared solely by their families members at home or isolated in residential institutions life-long. There are a majority of causes of disabilities including traumas of war, disease, congenital disorder, mal-practice, working accident, and others. Especially in Indochinese countries, the rate of disabilities caused by war is relatively high due to bomb. After the war, bombs have lied under the ground and still injure the people. Currently people living in these areas are affected generations after generations and require global support.

In Dec. 2008 ASEAN chapter came into its force. It's article 1 declares that one of the purposes of ASEAN is 'to promote a people oriented ASEAN in which all sections of society are encouraged to participate in , and benefit from the process of ASEAN integration and community building.' ASEAN chapter also emphasises its purpose of providing people of ASEAN 'with equitable and access to opportunities for human development, social welfare and justice.' Disability sector in ASEAN with 60 million population is also the one which shall be encouraged and provided with equitable access through the ASEAN mechanism.

On 30th November and 1st December 2010, Disabled Peoples' International Asia Pacific (DPIAP) organised an informal consultation on ASEAN disability forum (ADF) in Jakarta, Indonesia. The meeting was attended by individual experts from different sectors, including disabled people's organisations (DPOs), their parents organisations and international donors. The discussion resulted in a declaration which reads as follows:

1. ASEAN Disability Forum should be established as a joint effort of multi stakeholders, including ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN member states, international development agencies, civil society organisations (CSOs), media, business sectors, academic groups, disability related organisations and disabled people's organisations (DPOs) and their family organisations.

2. ASEAN Disability forum will organise its inaugural meeting in 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand and will have annual meetings with the participation of multi stake holders.

Considering the circumstances of the ASEAN region , ASEAN Disability Forum (ADF) undertakes functional cooperation in the fields of people to people interactions, cultural tourism, academic exchanges, promotion and protection of human rights and social justice of all vulnerable groups including women and children, and information exchanges through broadcast, print and electronic media and takes into consideration the interest of ASEAN dialogue partners and relevant United Nations and international/regional agencies to work with ASEAN to support the ASEAN community building by 2015.

Tvam wishes a very Happy New Year - 2015 to all its subscribers and users!!

As we say farewell to 2014 and step into a new year - 2015, Team Tvam India would like to thank and wish all of you a very happy and prosperous new year.

We wish that the new year brings growth, opportunity and lots of happiness in your life.

God be with you and bless you all, always.

"Happy New Year - 2015

Tweaking the public transport network and Infrastructure for differently abled people - How London does it?

London is one of the most expensive cities in the world and like any other mega city it is over populated. There are numerous options available for a normal person to travel and commute in London - be it by train, by bus, taxi or via ferry but what interests more is how this modern city supports its differently abled commons such as a wheel chair* users to commute easily and seamlessly through the whole public transportation network.

Lets walk through some elements of how the city and community has designed its public transport network and helped its differently abled mass to commute with minimum challenges but before that first watch this video from Transport for London** aka TFL to have a live feel of what it is to travel in london for a wheel chair user -

(**Transport for London aka tfl (visit - www.tfl.gov.uk) is a local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London.)

To ensure wheel chair users have a comfortable journey to their destinations following key facilities are provided just by slightly molding the basic design elements of a public transportation network-

1. Providing Stepfree stations and vehicles - What this means is that bus routes are served by low-floor vehicles, with a dedicated wheelchair space and an access ramp. These buses can also 'kneel' to reduce the step-up from the pavement, making it easy for wheel chair users and aged people to enter and commute in station space. Most of the tube stations, overground stations, DLR's, trams, piers, taxis etc provide step free access enabling all these options for a wheel chair user.

2. Providing Level access at platforms - Level access at platforms is to provide a step free solution from street to the trains via level access along the platforms or via boarding ramps. At some stations boarding ramps are provided manually by the station staff. All this helps a wheel chair user to easily access a public transport and use it similarly to how a normal user would access it for their daily commutation purposes.

3. Providing leveled/connected footpaths in streets - Footpaths across London are designed in such a way that they have junctures at various places which provide leveling and footpath connect to the road. This enables a wheelchair user to get onto and off the footpath easily without any problems. Footpaths are solely used by pedestrians, wheelchair users or mobility scooter users for commutation purpose.

4. Wheelchair space - This is the space provided in buses and other transport options for wheel chair users to park their wheelchairs and transport comfortably through the network.

5. Helpful staff - To ensure a wheelchair user gets the best public transportation experience possible, helpful staff at all the stations is readily available to lend an extra hand whether it is by providing manual ramps or by providing detailed information to plan out a step free journey for them. Similar information is also available via TFL website to the wheel chair users to plan out their journeys beforehand and make their travel experience best and beautiful.

6. Understanding people and fellow travelers - Well this is not directly linked to the public transportation network or the Infrastructure but this is one of the most crucial aspect for making sense of all this to a differently abled person. Manual ramps, automated ramps from buses, leveled footpaths in streets, elevators in stations and wheel chair user space in buses and trains - all these options will still not have been helpful to a wheel chair user if there would have not been an understanding fellow public transport user. People using public transport in London do understand that a differently abled person would have the same need of traveling as a normal person and hence allowing wheel chair user to make use of wheel chair user space in buses, minor delays to bus/train schedule due to usage of manual/automated ramps for on-boarding/off-boarding is perfectly fine for fellow travelers. People plan their journeys accordingly and ensure that facilities meant for wheel chair users are not misused by fellow travelers.

On a closer look at the above listed modifications in how the public transportation network had been designed in London we could see that there had been no major changes implemented in the overall Infrastructure to support wheelchair users but a slight tweak here and there is all that it takes to bring out a smooth traveling experience to everybody.

And with that said... is it too difficult to implement same in Indian cities? A thought to ponder..

*Similar to wheel chair users options are available for other differently abled people such as people with sight or hearing loss. Visit following link to understand more on travel options - Public Transport for people with sight or hearing loss

It was such a blessing to know Swami Chetan in Uttarkashi. Swami Chetan is providing world class education to the underprivileged students of Uttarkashi region since past 19 years. He is an amazing artist, an amazing singer, amazing cook and above all a wonderful man who leaves his impression on the hearts of whosoever he meets. He is a living embodiment of Indian ideal of Vasudhaiva Kutumbukum --- i.e the whole world is our family. His school's name is Swami Vivekananda school, Vivekananda means the bliss of wisdom. In Sanskrit language Viveka means our inherent ability to distinguish between what's permanent and what's impermanent, the one who chooses to give his time, energy and attention to the permanent things only experiences joy indescribable by words i.e ananda. It was a privilege for us to do a workshop on life skills in the blessed. Dear Swamiji we thank you for giving us the rare privilege.

Village Didsari gets its right to proper communication

After so much struggle and efforts, finally village Didsari gets a motorized trolley for their daily communication with the main road.

The journey however was a tough one and the dirty politics continued to make a mockery of the destitute for more than one and a half year. We shall bring to you the whole story very soon. Stay connected and the entire team of Tvam thank for your kind support for a bigger cause. It was on 17th June 2013, that this village lost a bridge that used to connect the villagers to the main road.