March 13th, 2015 -- The Organization of American States (OAS) and the International Telethon Organization (ORITEL) today launched the "Let's Move the Limits" campaign, at the headquarters of the OAS in Washington, DC, with the objective of promoting the rights of people with disabilities in the region, through simple and direct messages to be broadcast by major television networks in the hemisphere.
The Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, said the initiative seeks "the full integration of people with disabilities in all facets of society," which is linked to overarching themes of the Organization he leads, such as "education, leisure and work, in particular inclusive education, community inclusion and the workforce inclusion of people with disabilities."
The campaign, he continued, responds to a clear mandate of the Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities, CIADDIS, "which sets a key objective of sensitizing society in terms of promoting recognition of all the human rights of persons with disabilities, protecting their dignity, their proper valuation as well as the elimination of all forms of discrimination and all cultural barriers and other measures that prevent their development and their full and effective inclusion in society."
In this perspective, the OAS leader invited all member states "to consider this example of how to incorporate into their government campaigns elements that promote the social inclusion of people with disabilities, integrating and visualizing them as subjects with rights, as full citizens of the Americas.” So far, the countries belonging to ORITEL and that organize Telethons are Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, the United States, and Uruguay.
The ORITEL President, Mario Kreutzberger, a television host known as Don Francisco, expressed his satisfaction that after years of learning, OAS and ORITEL reached an agreement to launch this joint venture, the first regional campaign for the inclusion of people with disabilities. "From now on we will be promoting and saying in the Americas: let´s move the limits, and make a better world for everyone," said the television host.
Kreutzberger said the campaign will be sent to the media and virtual platforms in the region, which will make spaces available, in solidarity, to send a message that creates awareness "among the inhabitants of our hemisphere and makes the point abundantly clear: disability is not inherent in a person with a disability, it is society that is disabled.” Don Francisco explained that the main focus of the campaign consists of a series of spots that will be shown on TV channels throughout the region.
Finally, he expressed his special thanks to Secretary General Insulza for "your enthusiasm, commitment and the strong support we have received from you."
On August 10, 2012 the OAS and ORITEL signed a Letter of Intent through which they declared their mutual interest in joining forces to take actions that contribute to the implementation of regulatory frameworks of the Inter-American System for the rights of people with disabilities from CIADDIS and the Program of Action for the Decade of the Americas for the Rights and Dignity of the Disabled (PAD). In this context, the campaign "Let's Move the Limits" is based on the concept of inclusive development that values the contribution of each human being to the development process, belief in the principle of non-discrimination and the recognition of differences, appreciation of diversity and the principles of equity and justice.
A gallery of photos of the event is available here.
The video news of the event wiil be available here.
For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.
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