Bangkok--Sep 27--UNIS Bangkok
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the National Statistical Office of Thailand will be co-hosted the first ever in the Asia-Pacific region of the Fourth Washington Group on Disability Statistics Meeting, from 29 September to 1 October 2004, at the United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok. The Washington Group has so far met
three times.
The Washington Group on Disability Statistics was formed in 2001 as a
result of the United Nations International Seminar on Measurement of Disability, New York, June 2001. An outcome of that meeting was the recognition that statistical and methodological work was needed at international level in order to facilitate the comparison of data on disability across countries. Consequently, a group to address some of theissues identified in the Seminar was set up under the umbrella of the United Nations Statistical Commission. The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) of the United States, which now plays a key role as the group secretariat, hosted the first meeting of the group in Washington D.C., and the group was named after the location of its first meeting.
The main objectives of the Group are:
* To guide the development of a small set(s) of general disability
measures, suitable for use in censuses, sample based national surveys, or other statistical formats, which will provide basic necessary information on disability throughout the world; and
* To recommend one or more extended sets of survey items to measure
disability or principles for their design, to be used as components of population surveys or as supplements to specialty surveys.
As disability measurement has become a priority concern in national policy and decision-making circles, the Group is enjoying an ever-increasing
attendance of statisticians and health specialists from around the globe.For the Bangkok meeting, some 30 experts from 20 different countries and a number of representatives from international organizations are gathering to share their experience and expertise.
The Washington Group meeting is being held in conjunction with the second regional workshop of a UNESCAP two-year project on disability statistics
funded by the Republic of Korea. 18 countries from the region are participating in the project, some using their own funds, and the workshop will review national plans of action for improved disability measurement.The work of the Washington Group towards standard disability measures will positively affect the planned testing of disability questions in selected
countries of the region.
For more information about the Washington Group meeting, visit the website at: http://www.unescap.org/stat/meet/wgds4/index.asp End.
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