EVENT:

Please join us on Thursday, November 12, 2015 at 13:30 GMT for a telephonic press briefing with Judith Heumann, Special Advisor for International Disability Rights, who will speak about her recent trip to Kenya and Ethiopia. During her trip, she met with a broad range of government, private sector and civil society representatives to discuss the rights of persons with disabilities (such as implementation of disability rights laws, inclusive education, accessible workplaces, and the ability of disabled persons’ organizations to advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities). SA Heumann also will comment on her participation at the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) events in Nairobi, meetings with the African Disability Forum in Addis Ababa, and her experience working with the Ethiopian Railway Corporation on accessibility of Africa’s first light rail system.

DETAILS:

Speaker:                     Judith Heumann, Special Advisor for International Disability Rights, U.S. Department of State
Date:                           Thursday, November 12, 2015
Time:                          08:30 EST |13:30 GMT | * Please use Time Zone Converter to determine the start time of the event in your time zone.
Language:                  English.  French and Portuguese interpretation will be offered.
Ground rules:             On the record
Dial-in Info:                To be provided once you RSVP
RSVP:                        RSVP to afmediahub@state.gov.  Please indicate if you will dial in (specify English/French/Portuguese line), or request that we dial out to you (provide the phone number and language to be used).

LOGISTICS

Callers should dial-in to the conference call 10-15 minutes early. 
When an individual journalist dials-in, the operator will collect the caller’s name, press affiliation, and location.  When an embassy dials in, the operator will ask the embassy’s name and location.
The moderator will facilitate the Q and A among the connected callers.  Journalists on the conference call will be instructed to press the “*” and “1” buttons on their phones in order to enter the question queue.  NOTE:  You can press “*1” at any time during the call to join the question queue, even before the moderator begins the Q and A portion.  We ask that journalists limit themselves to one question and indicate to which speaker the question is directed.  Journalists can also submit questions in English to afmediahub@state.gov prior to or during the call. 

Bio

[Headshot] Judith Heumann

Special Advisor for International Disability Rights

Term of Appointment: 06/07/2010 to present

Judith Heumann is an internationally recognized leader in the disability community and a lifelong civil rights advocate for disadvantaged people. She previously served as the Director for the Department on Disability Services for the District of Columbia, where she was responsible for the Developmental Disability Administration and the Rehabilitation Services Administration.

From June 2002- 2006, Judith E. Heumann served as the World Bank's first Adviser on Disability and Development. In this position, Heumann led the World Bank's disability work to expand the Bank’s knowledge and capability to work with governments and civil society on including disability in the Bank discussions with client countries; its country-based analytical work; and support for improving policies, programs, and projects that allow disabled people around the world to live and work in the economic and social mainstream of their communities. She was Lead Consultant to the Global Partnership for Disability and Development.

From 1993 to 2001, Heumann served in the Clinton Administration as the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Department of Education. Heumann was responsible for the implementation of legislation at the national level for programs in special education, disability research, vocational rehabilitation and independent living, serving more than 8 million youth and adults with disabilities.

For more than 30 years, Heumann has been involved on the international front working with disabled people’s organizations and governments around the world to advance the human rights of disabled people. She represented Education Secretary, Richard Riley, at the 1995 International Congress on Disability in Mexico City. She was a US delegate to the Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. She has been active with Disabled Peoples’ International, Rehabilitation International and numerous Independent Living Centers throughout the world. She co-founded the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley California and the World Institute on Disability in Oakland California.

Heumann graduated from Long Island University in 1969 and received her Masters in Public Health from the University of California at Berkeley in 1975. She has received numerous awards including being the first recipient of the Henry B. Betts Award in recognition of efforts to significantly improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. She has received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Long Island University in Brooklyn, an Honorary Doctorate of Public Administration from the University of Illinois, Champaign, and an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service from the University of Toledo.