Web_RI2008

INVITED SPEAKERS

	NAWAF KABBARA Abstract title: Disability politics in the Arab World: the tension of change He is the author of many publications in the field of government affairs, democracy and elections laws, developmental theories and policies, disability rights and politics, transparency and accountability, decentralization and municipality policies.

In addition, he has attended hundreds of conferences and lectures all over the world in issues dealing with the subjects mentioned above. These conferences include all Disabled People’s International (DPI) conferences, UNESCAP conferences on South to South dialogue for people with disability, arab league and escwa conferences on the subject in additiion to conferences related to human rights conferences including those of the UN in 1997 and swedish sida seminars on human rights and disability in 2006.

Nawaf Kabbara has been very active in the efforts for the formulation of an Arab Decade of Disabled People and the International Convention on Disability. In addition, he has been chosen as an expert to evaluate the work on disability connected to the World Bank grant for the Egyptian Ministry of Social Affairs. He has played a major role in the formulation of the Law 220/2000 on Disability in Lebanon. In addition, he has been consulted by the governments of Bahrain, Syria and Tunis concerning the formulation of new laws on disability in these countries. He has also worked together and attended all activities organized by the office of the UN special rapporteur on disability (some of these activities were organized in collaboration with AODP).

In Lebanon, he has participated in the efforts of the Lebanese Council of Disabled People in formulating a ten years Strategy for the implementation of the lebanese law on disability to coincide with the terms of the Arab Decade. Concerning the situation in the arab world, he has been asked by ESCWA to write a report concerning the status of disability in the ESCWA Region following the adoption of the Arab Decade. And given the connection of AODP with the Arab League, he has been very active with the social division in the League for pushing forward the implementation of the Decade including attending the meetings of the Arab ministers of Social affairs and lobbying for the adoption of regional and national strategies for the activation of the Decade. In this regard, he has been active in coordinating with the Secretariat of the African Decade where he has attended a conferecne in this regard in Addis Ababa in 2005. Based on the above, he has been very active in the preparation and the provision of funds of a multiplicity of activities including organizing conferences and training seminars for different NGOs operating in the Arab world.