GAATES attends the UN Event for the International Day of Disabled Persons

Ban ki-Moon, Secretary General of the UN and Stevie Wonder celebrated the International Day of Disabled Persons in New York.

The event held in the General Assembly was interrupted by a series of fire alarms which necessitated that people evacuate. No one was hurt and it served as a "high profile" learning experience and an opportunity to improve communications and fire evacuation procedures. There was lots of media coverage.

Secretary Ban also announced that Stevie Wonder, the singer-songwriter, had been appointed as one of the organization's eleven Messengers of Peace.

His mission will be to champion the rights of disabled people.

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GAATES Award of Recognition Presented to Mr. Mohammed Al-Tarawneh

As a specially invited guest of GAATES, Mr. Tarawneh kindly agreed to attend the European Network on Accessible Tourism Conference in Vienna, Austria, October 1, 2009, where he was presented with the GAATES Award of Recognition.

The GAATES Award of Recognition was presented to Mr. Mohammed Al-Tarawneh, Chair of the UN Committee responsible for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in order to congratulate him and in recognition of his valuable contribution as Chair of the United Nations Committee on the Convention.

Mr. Tarawneh spoke briefly on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with a Disability, and in particular about accessibility and the potential impact of the Convention on worldwide accessible tourism.

View the short YouTube video featuring Mr. Al-Taranweh and other ENAT Members, recorded at the recent ENAT Congress in Vienna.

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GAATES places in TOP 16

GAATES was one of the Top 16 Finalists for the 2010 Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa UN-Habitat Award, based on the publication International Best Practices in Universal Design: A Global Review.

The Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman AI Khalifa Habitat Award was established jointly with UN-HABITAT, in order to promote the ideals and principles of good governance in the context of housing and urban development with a focus on equity. The Award is conferred biennially on the occasion of the World Urban Forum, a global meeting convened by UN-HABITAT on behalf of the United Nations General Assembly.

The purpose of the Award is to a) Recognize outstanding efforts by individuals, organizations and institutions in the implementation of the Habitat Agenda and the attainment of human settlements related Millennium Development Goals; and to b) Promote international and South-South cooperation through the exchange and transfer of lessons learned from experience.

GAATES is extremely pleased and excited to announce that this illustrious publication that has been distributed to over 5000 people worldwide compares accessibility codes and standards from around the world and is available in English, French, Arabic, Spanish, Serbian and the alternate DAISY format.

For further information on the 2010 Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa UN-Habitat Award, please follow the link.