BackMaking Disability Rights Real in a Pandemic
Thursday 29 April 2021 / 3.00 - 4.00pm (NZST)
Presented by:
- Olivia Soesbergen, Senior Advisor Disability Rights, New Zealand Office of the Ombudsman
- Vicki Hall, Advisor Disability Rights, New Zealand Office of the Ombudsman
- Chrissie Cowan, CEO, Kāpō Māori Aotearoa New Zealand Inc
The New Zealand Office of the Ombudsman warmly invites you to attend an international Zoom webinar “Making Disability Rights Real in a Pandemic”.
The Chief Ombudsman is part of New Zealand’s Independent Monitoring Mechanism (IMM) under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (the Disability Convention). The IMM’s role is to provide independent evaluation and monitoring of the extent to which disabled New Zealanders are enjoying their full suite of human rights set out in the Disability Convention. The purpose of the Disability Convention is to promote, protect, and ensure universal human rights and fundamental freedoms for disabled people, and promote respect for their dignity.
Olivia and Vicki will discuss how COVID-19 affected disability communities in New Zealand and the recent New Zealand IMM report “Making Disability Rights Real in a Pandemic”. They will discuss the background, role and function of New Zealand’s IMM, the Chief Ombudsman’s role in this, and how the IMM undertook its work to protect and monitor the rights of disabled New Zealanders during the Pandemic.
Chrissie Cowan, will speak about tāngata whaikaha Māori (disabled Māori) experiences of the pandemic, including an outline about why Ombudsman institutions can, and should, include disabled people’s voices (in particular indigenous people’s voices), in their monitoring under the Disability Convention.
Participants are encouraged to ask questions in advance by emailing the Office of the New Zealand Ombudsman, or at the end of the Webinar via the Zoom Q&A function.
Who should attend:
This webinar is open for registration to our international colleagues, specifically international Independent Monitoring Mechanisms, Ombudsmen, and human rights/integrity institutions that monitor under the Disability Convention and/or have an interest in the Disability Convention.
How to attend:
This webinar is free to attend for all participants and will be run on Thursday 29th April 2021 between 3.00-4.00pm NZST.
Registrations will be confirmed by email. You will later receive a Zoom email invitation containing a link to enable you to join the Webinar. The Webinar will be recorded for our own records. If you have accessibility requirements or further questions, please contact the New Zealand Ombudsman. For more resources, please see the links further down below.
Source: Office of the Ombudsman, New Zealand
