Next week, the 12th session of the Conference of States Parties (COSP) to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities takes place from Tuesday 11 to Thursday 13 June 2019 at UN Headquarters in New York. On Monday 10 June, a Civil Society CRPD Forum will be held to complement the Conference.

DAI will be attending both events, aiming to represent the 50 million people currently living with dementia, and each person who is  newly diagnosed every 3.2 seconds. It is a hostorical moment in the advocacy of, by and for people with dementia. That this DAI Side Event was accepted is a first, and highlighting. Dementia as a disability has never been represented  at the CoSP conference ever before.

The Themes and Sub-Themes

The overarching theme of the Conference is "Ensuring the inclusion of persons with disabilities in a changing world through the implementation of the CRPD".  This is highly relevant to people with dementia and our families.

Three round tables will address the following themes:

• Technology, digitalization and ICTs for the empowerment and inclusion of persons with disabilities
• Social inclusion and the right of the highest attainable standard of health
• Inclusion of persons with disabilities in society through participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sports

Highlights for the week:

• The Civil Society Forum on Mon 10 June will address what is the current state of play; capacity building; and protection of the rights of children with disabilities.
• Civil Society representatives speaking in all official sessions of the CoSP and co-moderating all three round-tables from Tues 11 to Thurs 13th June.
• On Wednesday 12,  Matters related to the implementation of the Convention (item 5 (b) (ii): Round Table 2. Social inclusion and the right to the highest attainable standard of health - will be co-chaired by H.E. Ambassador Katalin Annamária Bogyay of Hungary, Vice President of the Conference and Ms. Kate Swaffer Civil Society representative from Dementia Alliance International, also Chair and CEO of DAI.
• The Chair of the International Disability Alliance will speak at the opening of the CoSP, as a representative of the Civil Society Coordination Mechanism, and alongside UN Secretary-General
• 100 side-events are being organised, covering a broad range of topics
• IDA and its members will also be co-sponsoring and/or speaking at over 20 side-events, including DAI's.
• DAI is hosting its own and first Side Event on Dementia as the leading cause of disability on June 13, with live web  cast, International Sign and Closed Captioning services provided, to ensure accessibility to and for as many people as possible

Don't miss watching the DAI side-event "Dementia: the leading cause of disability".

DAI will be not only be celebrating our 5th Birthday at this exciting event,  but also ensuring dementia as a disability definitively joins the global disability stage. This event is being held on Thursday June 13, 9.45-11.00 am in Conference Room 11.

Note: We will be posting a blog with the times and link to the live webcast as soon as the link is available to share.