November 14, 2012
November 16 will mark the end of Maryanne Diamond's reign as World Blind Union President. Ms Diamond will continue in her role as Vision Australia's General Manager International and Stakeholder Relations and will become immediate past-President of the WBU where she hopes to continue to play a leading role in access to information and employment.
Elected in late-2008, Ms Diamond's term as President of the WBU can be described as one of hard work and achievement. Under the leadership of Ms Diamond, the World Braille Council was re-established and held a successful conference, Braille21 in September 2011.
The WBU developed a United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with a Disability (CRPD) Toolkit for members featuring a collection of material to help individuals, groups and organisations understand and use the CRPD.
With the support of the Christian Blind Mission, the WBU engaged an advocacy coordinator to assist with their advocacy and CRPD work.
The WBU also embarked on a long term initiative to address the unemployment rate of persons who are blind around the world. One step to achieving this has been the establishment of a global employment resource bank. The website is now live and can be viewed at www.projectaspiro.com.
Huge progress has been made with the WBU Right to Read campaign which aimed to achieve the same book, at the same time and at the same price. Their work with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has progressed well and they remain hopeful that it will yield a legally binding treaty which will allow books produced in an alternate format in one country to be shared with people who are blind, partially sighted or have a print disability in another country.
Under Ms Diamond's leadership, the WBU's collaborations and partnerships have continued to strengthen and grow. The establishment of Vision Alliance was a major achievement which saw the bringing together of the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI), International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IABP) and WBU.
As a result, they add value to each other's work and ensure there is a clear pathway from prevention, treatment, education, rehabilitation, empowerment and capacity building of blind persons. It also ensures that people who are blind are able to find and receive the services they require.
A note from Ms Diamond...
"I would like to acknowledge and thank those organisations that have provided additional support to our operations and work," Ms Diamond said. "To members, I would like to thank you for your contribution and work within your countries and regions."
"It has been an honour and privilege to lead the WBU this term. I have learned a great deal and met and worked with many wonderful people around the world," Ms Diamond said.
"I am totally committed to our movement and to what we as a collective can achieve by working together to change what it means to be blind for millions of people who are blind around the world."
Listen to the proceedings of the World Blind Union General Assembly
If you wish to listen to the proceedings of the World Blind Union General Assembly, it will be streaming live from Thailand courtesy of American Council of the Blind.
The broadcast will start by covering the Diversity Forum, running from November 10th through to the 16th November 2012.
Click here to open the American Council of the Blind Radio website for audio streaming.
It is running live ICT (Indochina Time) which is GMT + 7 hours.
Programme
The World Blind Union (WBU) and International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) have created a programme for the event.