The Open Society Mental Health Initiative

News and Events

News and Anouncements

Country Perspectives On AIDS And Disabilities At International AIDS Conference (Austria)

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Around 650 million people, or 10% of the world's population, have a disability. Although people with disabilities are found within the populations at higher risk of exposure to HIV, not much attention has been paid in the past to the relationship between HIV and disability.

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Government Unveils Commission On Care Funding (UK)

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The government today unveiled the independent commission that will advise on a new funding system for adult social care in England. The Commission on the Funding of Care and Support will consider a range of funding ideas. One of its main tasks will be to recommend how care and support costs can be met by a partnership between individuals and the state. It will report on its findings within a year.

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more news & announcements

Funding/Opportunities

Open Society Fellowship

Deadline: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

The Fellowship will enable outstanding individuals from around the world, journalists, activists, academics, practitioners to work on projects that inspire meaningful public debate, shape policy, and inform the thinking and activities of the Open Society Institute and the Soros foundations.

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Campaign Officer, European Network Against Racism (ENAR)

Deadline: July 28, 2010

The Campaign Officer will work in close cooperation with the Networking Officer, Policy Officers and Press & Communication Officer to implement the ENAR work programme within the mandates given by the Board. The Officer will be responsible for liaising with and supporting ENAR's existing and future National Coordinations in the framework of the implementation of ENAR campaigns. The Campaign Officer reports to the Director.

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more funding/opportunities

Upcoming Events

Summer School "Mental Disability Law in Practice"

Budapest, Hungary

July 19, 2010 - July 30, 2010

This two-week applied legal practice course aims to strengthen the professional development of participants - practising lawyers, activists and academics in the field of mental health and disability rights law from Europe and Africa. With an emphasis on exploring rights in real life, this course introduces interdisciplinary perspectives from social sciences, politics, social work and clinical sciences. The application deadline has now passed.

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National Summit on Disability Policy

Washington, DC, USA

July 25, 2010 - July 27, 2010

The National Council on Disability is holding the Summit is to discuss significant issues for all people with disabilities and develop policy recommendations for the next decade.

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more upcoming events

Publications and Reports

Supporting Sustainable Careers: What Disabled People Need to Succeed in Employment

Thursday, July 22, 2010

RADAR has published a new report into sustainable employment for disabled people. The report aims to give disabled people a voice about the action that needs to be taken in order for them to get into and stay in the world of work.

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Left Out Twice: Living with HIV and Disabilities

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

A global conference on AIDS took place this week (July 18 - 23, 2010) in Vienna, Austria. While there is a growing recognition of the interrelationships between disability and HIV, people with disabilities still lack access to HIV prevention information, treatment, care and support services. This article highlights that the special vulnerabilities of women with disabilities must be kept on the development agenda.

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more publications and reports

Highlights

1) Dumping Grounds For Forgotten People

An investigation by Bulgarian journalist Yana Buhrer Tavanier on the mental care institutions in Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia.   

Please visit the website dedicated to the investigation and view the new promotional video.


Judith Klein, director of the OSMHI (Open Society Mental Health Initiative) has written a foreword to the article, which appears in the newsletter of the European Coalition for Community Living, Issue No. 10, October 2009 and also on the investigation website.


2) Report of the Ad Hoc Expert Group on the Transition from Institutional to Community-based Care

A report on the Transition from Institutional to Community-based Care was handed over to Commissioner Vladimír ?pidla on September 23, 2009. The report was drafted by a group of independent experts convened by Commissioner Spidla in February 2009 to address the issues of institutional care reform in their complexity.  The report is also available in Bulgarian, Croatian, Hungarian, Romanian.

Films

Karin Dom - a training and resource centre for children with special needs and their families

This short film was made following a BBC production about a children's institution in Mogilino, Bulgaria. The film features MHI partner organization Karin Dom and highlights what community-based alternatives for children can be like in Bulgaria.

UN Disability Convention

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities received its 20th ratification on April 3, 2008, triggering the entry into force of the Convention and its Optional Protocol on May 3, 2008. This marks a major milestone in the effort to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.

Information on the convention process:
Convention in Easy to Read
View the list of signatories
Countries that have ratified the Convention
ICRPD Ratification Toolkit
Convention and Inclusive Education
View more information

 

News reports on the Convention:
Agreement on New UN Convention
Urging Implementation
Archive Webcast: Convention Signing 
Record Number of Countries Sign
Secretary-General Ban Hails Entry Into Force Of Treaty On Disability Rights
More news reports

Publications:
UN Handbook for Parliamentarians on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol
First Implementation Manual For The United Nations Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities (Addressed Specifically To Users And Survivors Of Psychiatry)


Ratify Now (The campaign to support global grassroots efforts to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities).

Films about Inclusion

Foster Care for Children with Disabilities: English ** Russian

I Want to Work and I Can Work!

Living Proof: The right to live in the community

Reality - film on personal assistance

Being an Unperson. A short film about the experience of dehumanization within the care system.

In My Language. A short film about autism and nonverbal communication.

A Way of Describing Autism. A short film by Dave Spicer and Amanda Baggs.

Equalise It!

A Manifesto for Disability Equality in Development Cooperation

The international committee of UK Disabled People's Council (formerly BCODP) has written this manifesto in the light of the signing of the UN Convention on the Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 

To read the campaign launch letter, please click here.

Organisations who wish to sign up to the Manifesto are asked to contact Bill Albert or Mark Harrison so that their name and logo can be added to the list of signatories.