联合国教科文组织呼吁共同努力实现残障人和老年人充分融入并参与社会

(English version below)

2021年4月7日，联合国教科文组织驻华代表处主任兼联合国教科文组织驻中国、朝鲜、日本、蒙古、韩国五国代表夏泽翰教授出席了中国互联网协会举办的2021信息社会世界峰会论坛信息无障碍主题线上研讨会。共同参加本次研讨的还有来自国际电信联盟、中国工业和信息化部、中国残疾人联合会、中国信息通信研究院、兰州大学，以及阿里巴巴、腾讯、华为等IT企业的代表，共计65人。

联合国教科文组织驻华代表夏泽翰教授致开幕辞

夏教授在开幕致辞中强调，信息与通信技术为残障人士融入社会、参与社会带来了前所未有的机遇。为此，我们需要在创造技术、产品、内容和服务的过程中，将无障碍纳入考量，以降低使残障人士更加落于人后的风险，尤其是在危机时期。“新冠疫情危机中，亿万残障人士遭受到更为严重的影响，这便是缺乏无障碍ICT解决方案所带来严重后果的鲜明例证，”夏教授说。

夏教授进一步呼吁所有利益攸关方采取实际行动共同解决这一迫切挑战，包括通过提高残障的可见度，促进对残障问题的理解；提升意识，提高对信息无障碍的了解；为残障人士提供可负担的上网服务；在主流信息通信技术行业和公共部门推广通用设计原则；提供资助机制，支持开源软件的开发；促进残障人士基于信息与通信技术的职业培训和高等教育。夏教授特别强调，“我们需要确保所有这些举措都有残障人士直接参与其中。”

此外，国际电联、中国工信部、中国残联以及中国互联网协会的代表也在会上发言。中国残联副主席吕世明先生表示残障人士和老年人“对加快信息无障碍环境建设、消除数字鸿沟和共享美好数字生活有着强烈的、现实的需求”。中国工信部信息通信管理局副局长邵道新先生介绍了中国在信息无障碍环境建设方面取得的成就，同时强调“为老年人、残疾人提供贴心、周到的智能产品和信息服务是一项长期的工作”。中国互联网协会副理事长兼副秘书长何桂立先生指出“解决2.5亿老年人和8500万人残疾人的信息障碍问题……将对推进中国乃至人类信息文明发展有着重要意义和深远影响。” 国际电信联盟秘书长赵厚麟先生在发言中也着重强调了国际合作在推动残障人士信息无障碍建设方面的重要作用。

参会人员合照

联合国教科文组织是积极参与促进残障权利、实施联合国《残疾人权利公约》的联合国机构之一。教科文组织致力他通过促进全纳教育、无障碍文化和科学、信息与传播、创建包容性城市，从而更好地实现对残障人士的包容和赋权。

在中国，联合国教科文组织也同时担任联合国中国残障小组的主席单位，致力于协调促进残障领域各利益攸关方之间开展对话合作，为中国履行其实现残障人平等权利和包容的国际和国家承诺提供支持。

了解联合国教科文组织在残障人士获取信息和知识领域的更多工作，欢迎访问：

https://en.unesco.org/themes/access-people-disabilities

UNESCO calls for concerted efforts for full inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities and older persons

On 7 April 2021, Professor Shahbaz Khan, Director of UNESCO Beijing Cluster Office and UNESCO representative to China, DPRK, Japan, Mongolia, and ROK attended the online Thematic Seminar on Information Accessibility, organized by the Internet Society of China (ISC) under the World Summit on the Information Society. The Seminar was attended by 65 participants, including representatives from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China (MIIT), China Disabled Persons’ Federation (CDPF), China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, Lanzhou University, as well as IT companies such as Alibaba, Tencent, and Huawei.

In his opening remarks, Professor Khan highlighted the unprecedented opportunity provided by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for social inclusion and empowerment of persons with disabilities. In doing so, we must take accessibility into consideration while creating technologies, products, contents and services, to mitigate the major risk of leaving persons with disabilities further behind, especially in times of crisis. “The COVID-19 pandemic is a living proof of the severe consequences caused by the lack of accessible ICT solutions, as billions of people living with disabilities are disproportionally affected,” Professor Khan said.

Professor Khan further called attentions to all stakeholders to the need of taking concrete measures to address this urgent challenge, including through promoting the visibility and understanding of disabilities; raising awareness and increasing knowledge of information accessibility; providing affordable Internet access for persons with disabilities; promoting the principles of Universal Design in mainstream ICT industries and the public sector; providing funding mechanisms to support the development of open source software; promoting ICT-based vocational training and higher education for persons with disabilities. “We need to ensure to include persons with disabilities directly in all of these actions,” He stressed.

Representatives from ITU, MIIT, CDPF and ISC also delivered speech at the Seminar. Mr. Lv Shiming, Vice-Chairman of CDPF, emphasized that persons with disabilities and older persons “have a strong and realistic demand for accelerating the construction of a barrier-free information environment, eliminating digital divide, and sharing the benefit of a better digital life”. Mr. Shao Daoxin, Deputy Director General of Information and Communication Administration of MIIT, briefed relevant progress made in China, and stressed that “providing considerate and thoughtful intelligent products and information services for the elderly and the disabled groups is a long-term task.” Mr. He Guili, Vice President and Deputy Secretary-General of ISC, highlighted that “lifting information barriers for 250 million older persons and 85 million persons with disabilities…will have important significance and far-reaching implications on promoting the development of information civilization in China and for all human beings.” Mr. Zhao Houlin, Secretary-General of ITU, also stressed in his speech the importance of international cooperation in advancing information accessibility for persons with disabilities. 

UNESCO is one of the UN agencies actively involved in promoting disability rights and implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. UNESCO works towards the promotion of inclusive education, accessible culture and sciences, communication and information, as well as the creation of inclusive cities, for better inclusion and empowerment of persons with disabilities.

In China, UNESCO also chairs the UN Theme Group on Disability in China, which is uniquely positioned to foster dialogue and collaboration among disability stakeholders, in order to support China’s fulfillment of international and national commitments to the equal rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities. 

For more information about UNESCO's work on access to information and knowledge for persons with disabilities: 

https://en.unesco.org/themes/access-people-disabilities