Thank you Professor Peter Mittler CBE
As current Chair and CEO of Dementia Alliance International (DAI), I wish to announce that Professor Peter Mittler CBE has stepped aside from his role as Human Rights Advisor to our organisation, to take on an even more important role as the Human Rights Ambassador for both DAI and our strategic partners, Alzheimer’s Disease international (ADI).
We wish to thank Peter sincerely for his incredible passion, expertise and commitment to DAI and to all people living with dementia, in the work we have been doing for the human rights of everyone with dementia, including full access to the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and other Conventions, since DAI placed human rights on the global stage in Geneva in March 2015 at the WHO First Ministerial Conference on Dementia.
Peter’s significant contribution to us has been outstanding, and his willingness to share his knowledge with all organisations globally cannot be highlighted enough. We are thrilled that he will continue to work with us in his Ambassador role. We have delayed publishing this post for it to arrive on April 1, 2017 in the UK, where Peter lives, and also to coincide with his birthday on Sunday. Happy birthday Peter.
We are all working together in our individual and collective quests for a human rights based approach for people with dementia. Working collaboratively, we are much stronger and far more likely to get results. Indeed, this is one of the keys to moving away from the rhetoric to reality. DAI’s book on human rights published in May last year, give a good overview of why they are important for all [The Human Rights of People Living with Dementia - from Rhetoric to Reality_2nd Edition_July 2016_English].
It has been since that time, that not only have people with dementia become more active in this work, but all Alzheimer's advocacy organisations and many other individuals or organisations have taken up the baton. The fact that all ADI Council members agreed to this approach at the ADI2016 conference in Budapest last year is a testament to effective collaboration. Since that time, Alzheimer’s Canada has been very actively working towards achieving this.
DAI and ADI are also very lucky to have the support of Mrs. Diane Kingston OBE who takes over the role of DAI Human Rights adviser today.
Diane Kingston OBE (formerly Diane Mulligan) is a UK-based disability rights campaigner. She is Deputy Director of the International Advocacy and Alliances department at CBM, an international Christian development organisation committed to improving the quality of life of people with disabilities in poor communities. In 2012 she became the UK elected member of the Expert Committee for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Diane served as an UN Expert for a four-year term, including two years as an elected Vice-Chairperson. From 2007-2011, she was a member of the World Health Organization's Advisory Board for Community-based Rehabilitation (CBR), and she was the lead author of that organisation's CBR guidelines component on education. From 2006-2007, she served on the British Medical Association's Patient Liaison Group and Equal Opportunities Committee, and had advisory input into two publications: Disability in the Medical Profession (2007) and Disability Equality within Healthcare: the role of healthcare professionals (2007). Diane has been supporting DAI’s work for two years.
Finally...
Dr Nicole Batsch is also supporting ADI and DAI in a consulting role when we are working on joint projects, and has almost 20 years experience developing ageing and dementia programmes across the US and the UK within mostly not-for-profit organisations. Her expertise encompasses many disciplines including developing a literacy programme for seniors, family carer interventions, a hospital-based senior wellness centre, dementia staff training for home care and care homes and initiatives for people with early stage dementia living in the community. One programme, Powerful Tools for Caregivers Online, was internationally disseminated based on its research outcomes and won the 2006 Innovative Excellence award from the Alliance of Work Life Progress. From 2010-2012, Dr Batsch served on the board of directors for the American Society on Aging. In addition, she co-authored the World Alzheimer Report 2012: Overcoming the Stigma of Dementia and was the study author of a survey conducted with over 2000 people with dementia and carers in 54 countries. The ADI report can be found at this link...
We also have new DAI members taking on more of the global human rights work, and we are excited to be able to announce and once again introduce Phyllis Fehr to you. She is a person living with a dementia in Canada, and who has agreed to take on more of the global on human rights work more actively with DAI, on top of her role with ODAG.
Mrs. Phyllis Fehr, a new DAI board member and Vice Chair of the Ontario Dementia Advisory Group who has been actively working on human rights work in Canada, now joins DAI and ADI on the international stage working alongside myself and other DAI members or consultants on the global stage. It is imperative that we pass the baton to more people with dementia, and we are thrilled that Phyllis has joined us globally with this work.
Phyllis was given a working diagnosis of younger-onset Alzheimer's and Lewy Body dementia when she was 53. At the time she was working full time in the intensive care unit as a registered nurse. Phyllis promotes the abilities of people living with dementia by advocating for people living with this disease both locally and nationally, and now internationally. She advocates change for persons with dementia as an Ontario Dementia Advisory board co-chair with a focus on government policy.
Phyllis recently represented DAI at the United Nations in Geneva on March 20th, together with Dr Nicole Batsch who attended representing ADI, at the first Open Session of the new CRPD Committee. Representatives from civil society and organisations of disabled persons were asked to speak about their priorities for the work of the Committee for the next eight years in the wider context of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (Action 2030). You can read her full speech in a previous blog here…
Kate Swaffer
Chair, CEO & Co-founder
Dementia Alliance Inernational