Celebrating disability and promoting inclusion

C elebrating disability is about celebrating abilities, promote inclusion, create opportunities and ensure an equal ground for all members of society. The commitment of the Agency and its employees is to collaborate with local and international stakeholders to ensure that the service we provide to person with disability matches the requirements and in line with one’s rights and holistic approach of the Agency.

Our collaboration with complementing authorities ensures that the necessary policies are in place while constantly rehauling existing practices and add resources to address growing and emerging demands.

Accessible Europe 2019

The first week of December is associated with disability. It is when the International Disability Day is celebrated on the 3rd December, with various local and international initiatives being held throughout the week to mark this important day in our calendar, focusing on abilities, inclusion, emerging needs, challenges which are still being faced, and new developments marked in the field.

This year, the focus of disability week is an international conference - Accessible Europe: ICT 4 All, 2019. This is a 3-day conference co-organised by the European Commission and the International Telecommunications Unit to be held between the 4th and 6th December at Corinthia Hotel St George. This conference is being hosted in Malta by the Parliamentary Secretary for Persons with Disability and Active Ageing. Aġenzija Sapport as the national agency providing services for persons with disability within the mentioned Secretariat, is an active local partner in this conference, with the collaboration of the Office for Disability Issues, the

Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability, the Malta Communications Authority and the Foundation for ICT Accessibility (FITA).

Accessible Europe 2019 will indeed bring together over 40 local and international key experts and over 200 delegates, discussing various topics in relation to accessible technology and emphasising Malta’s position and development in this important, developing sector. The local scene contains the collaboration of various stakeholders, including governmental and non-governmental organisations, federations, associations, academia and other advocates.

This knowledge-based conference will focus on standards and regulations in services of accessible products and services; targets, actions and key resources required in ICT accessibility; accessibility in education and in audio-visual media services, TV and video programming; web accessibility across Europe; and challenges and opportunities in the sector.

This edition of Accessible Europe also included a regional competition on innovative digital solutions, which was open for private, public, non-profit and academic sector on an international level. This called for new concepts of digital applications or interfaces to be used by persons with disability with vision, hearing, speech, cognitive and physical disabilities. The winners of this competition, selected by an Evaluation Committee that also involved the participation of Sapport representative, will be announced during this event. An exhibition completes this initiative providing also an opportunity for local and international entities to showcase their products and prototypes, while promising a great networking opportunity for all delegates.

On behalf of the PSDAA and our collaborators, I invite those with an interest in the disability sector to attend this conference. We are calling persons with disability, policy makers, non-governmental entities, students and academia and all those who want to engage in knowledge sharing opportunity. Registration is free and available from the conference website

Delegates registering for this conference may also opt to attend the disability debate organised by CRPD on 3rd December and the Premju Soċjetà Ġusta awards-giving event on the 6th December.

What’s next?

Accessible Europe is happening in Malta thanks to the collaboration of various stakeholders from many different areas and backgrounds. This shows our commitment to go beyond just service provision. It shows our drive to adopt new ways and procedures, share best practices, gain further knowledge and collaborate with local and international counterparts in service provision, researchers and the private sector. This will surely not be the last learning opportunity that the Agency will engage itself in. Aġenzija Sapport is a growing entity with a mission and vision that invests its efforts to enhance the quality of life of persons with disability and enable them to be active members of society on various levels.

#AccessibleEurope2019 #ITU #psdaa #agenzijasapport #sapport2019 #crpd #odi #mca #fita

#ICT4ALL @ITU_EUR @ITU

Ruth Rose Sciberras is the new CEO of Aġenzija Sapport Sapport.gov.mt @sapport.malta