The Social Development Division of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) organized an Expert Group Meeting to review the draft version of the Outcome Document to be adopted at the upcoming High-level Intergovernmental Meeting on the Midpoint Review of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities, 2013-2022.

ESCAP and the Government of India jointly organized a three-day national stakeholder consultation on Incheon Strategy indicators and disability statistics in New Delhi from 15 to 17 March 2017.

The Fourth Session of the Working Group on the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities was held from 1 to 2 March 2017 in Bangkok at the United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC).

ESCAP co-organized with the Government of Georgia a national stakeholder consultation on disability statistics in Tbilisi from 17 to 19 January 2017.

ESCAP, co-organized with the Government of Indonesia, a national consultation in Jakarta from 14 to 16 November 2016 to support the development of an action plan to prepare data for the Incheon Strategy’s 41 core indicators. The consultation consisted of meetings with senior officials and statisticians from 11 ministries including among others the Ministry of Social Affairs, the National Statistics Agency, the Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of Public Works.

ESCAP conducted a national consultation on disability data collection with the Government of Bhutan from 26 to 28 October 2016. The aim was to build the capacity of Bhutanese policymakers and statisticians in collecting reliable and comparable data on disability and to enhance their awareness of the Incheon Strategy's goals, targets and indicators.

ESCAP conducted stakeholder consultations in Jakarta and Semarang, Indonesia from 13 to 17 September 2016 to obtain feedback on an ESCAP-developed e-learning course on disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction. The consultations included high-level representatives from the National Disaster Management Authority as well as from organizations of persons with disabilities.

ESCAP organized a series of stakeholders consultations on an ESCAP-developed e-learning course on disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction in the Philippines from 5 to 9 September 2016. The e-learning course primarily aims to enhance the technical knowledge of policy makers in implementing measures on disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction. Two consultations were held in Manila and two were held in Cebu, both of which targeted policy makers, specialists in disability and disaster risk reduction as well as persons with disabilities affected by disasters.

ESCAP hosted the opening ceremony of the 20th “Art for All” Camp on 15 July 2016 at the UNCC, Bangkok. The camp, annually organized by the Art for All Foundation, provides a platform for approximately 150 Thai students with disabilities to enhance their creativity and build their confidence in developing themselves in society.  

The Third Session of the Working Group on the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities was held from 2 to 4 March 2016 in Bangkok. The Session was hosted by the Royal Government of Thailand through the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.