Minutes of the second meeting in the Committee (EDBU/EBU) the 16th
-17th of November 2002
Location:
Almåsa Kursgård, Sweden.
Present:
Ove Bejnsnap, chairperson, Denmark
Geir Jensen, Norway
Tiina Nummi-Södergren, Sweden
Serguei Sirotkine, Russia
Observers:
Stig Ohlson, Sweden
Mona-Britt Broberg, Sweden
Lennart Nolte, Sweden
Rapporteur: Ilse Bellamy
As arranged with Ove Bejsnap, Tiina Nummi-Södergren welcomed everyone to
Almåsa Kursgård, and the meeting was hereby opened. Sweden was pleased at
hosting this meeting.
Lennart Nolte, chairperson of the Swedish Association of the Blind,
would be arriving in the afternoon and participate at dinner. She mentioned,
that in Sweden the blind assocoation co-operated with FSDB, and she had
therefore invited Stig Ohlson and Mona-Britt Broberg, so they follow all the
issues during this meeting , which we here in Sweden will be working on with
for the benefit of the joint arrangement next year.
Ove Bejsnap thanked Tiina Nummi-Södergren for the warm welcome. He asked
whether everyone’s communication functioned. Geir Jensen explained , that his
interpreters were not competent at English and therefore wished the meeting to
be carried out in Scandinavian languages. The Russians accepted this, as the
interpreter of Serguei Sirotkine was capable at understanding Norweigian and
Swedish. It was hereby decided that the language of today and tomorrow would be
Scandinavian.
For the sake of interpreters a short presentation of each participant
was made.
For the sake of the minutes, Ove Bejsnap wanted to know what roles Stig
Ohlson and Mona-Britt Broberg had during the meeting.
Tiina Nummi-Södergren informed that they were merely observers.
Stig Ohlson asked, if he and Mona-Britt Broberg could express opinions
during the meeting and come with suggewstions or comments?
Ove Bejsnap said, that he found it okay that Stig Ohlson and Mona-Britt
Broberg could express themselves during the meeting.
Geir Jensen informed that we should follow the guidelines of the
committee, and herein it was informed who should invite others to the meetings.
He agreed with Ove Bejsnap, but thought that we should follow the guidelines
for the committee in the future and thereby the four committee members should
agree to who should be invited.
Serguei Sirotkine and Tiina Nummi-Södergren agreed with Geir Jensen.
Tiina Nummi-Södergren explained that she previously had sent out a mail to the
committee and suggested observers and as she did not receive any comments, she
took this as an acceptance.
The committee dicided that Stig Ohlson and Mona-Britt Broberg could
express themselves during the meeting.
Serguei Sirotkine drew attention to the decision that the guidelines for
the work of the committee should be sent out for approval in the EBU and the
EDBU interim board
He asked if these guidelines had been sent and what the two boards had
answered.
Ove Bejsnap thought, that Serguei Sirotkine’s question should be put
under item no. 4.
Serguei Sirotkine wanted to suggest another item for the agenda, which
was to be named “approval of the guidelines for the committee”.
The committee agreed to add an item under item 4 b dealing with “Election of chairperson for the committee for a two-year period”.
Hereby the agenda was approved with an adding of item 4 b “Election of
chairperson for the committee for a two-year period”.
Item 3 - Comments to the minutes of the committee meeting the 15th-16th
of December 2001.
Ove Bejsnap called for any comments to the minutes.
Tiina Nummi-Södergren was satisfied with the fact that the minutes were
forwarded quickly after the meeting and found it correctly reported. It was of
great help for her, when she followingly had to inform the board of EBU.
There were no other comments and Ove Bejsnap concluded the minutes to be
approved.
Ove Bejsnap mentioned that
the committee at their meeting last year agreed to send out the guidelines for
the work of the committee for adoption in EBU and EDBU. Both boards have
approved the guidelines for the committee, which was sent out.
Serguei Sirotkine wished to
receive minuted from the EBU and EDBU meetings.
Tiina Nummi-Södergren would
see to it that Serguei Sirotkine would receive minutes from the EBU board.
Ove Bejsnap recommended, that mutual briefing in the future should be done by sending minutes from relevant meetings in EBU and EDBU which deals with activities regarding the committee.
This everyone agreed to.
Geir Jensen suggested that
the committee should send a letter to the EDBU board and the EBU board with a
suggestion that minutes should be sent to the committee members.
This suggestion was agreed
to.
Ove Bejsnap hereafter
briefed, that secretariat of EDBU had reserved rooms and conference rooms at
Fuglsangcentret in Fredericia. Furthermore the board of EDBU have discussed the
draft of the constitution for EDBU at their meeting in August this year. It was
decided that Geir Jensen and Ove Bejsnap should find a solution to the problems
raised at the meeting.
EDBU usually holds their
board meeting in August, but this year it was decided, because of the official
founding of EDBU, to hold a meeting in March 2003, to discuss the last
preparation before the founding in October 2003.
Stig Ohlson said that it was
good EDBU worked with the constitution as the current draft would exclude many
deafblind to become full members.
For example, Spain is
completely dependent on support from ONCE, the blind organization in Spain.
WFDB have been told by ONCE that they want to be a member of WFDB and not
deafblind in Spain. Deafblind can become members of WFDB, but as it looks
today, the same people cannot become members of EDBU.
Geir Jensen thanked Ove
Bejsnap for th egood briefing regarding the decisions made by EDBU. He also
thanked Stig Ohlson for his comments. Stig Ohlson can set his mind at rest
regarding the suggestion for the constitution which will be presented at the
founding congress next year, as it will take into account the points of view
that have appeared at the meeting. An improvement of the article on membership
will be made. The work will hopefully be finished at the end of November or the
beginning of December. Hereafter Ove Bejsnap will be contacted for a closer
examination of the constitution. At the end there will be a somewhat well
suggestion for the constitution which the greatest possible number can be
satisfied with. There will be worked out a good explanation to the articles in
the constitution.
Ove Bejsnap added that he understood
Stig Ohlson’s worries and that he realised the situation for deafblind people
in Europe and their different kinds of organization which the constitution
should take into consideration.
Geir Jensen informed that
FNDB, which is the oldest deafblind association within the Nordic countries,
cannot become a member of WFDB as their constitution has been passed. This is
thought-provoking.
Therefore, European
conditions will be taken into consideration in the constitution of EDBU.
Stig Ohlson mentioned that
nothing prevents FNDB to become a member of WFDB. If there are several
deafblind organizations in one country, all can become members. On the other
hand, each country has one national representative entitled to vote at the
general assembly.
Organizations in the same
country therefore have to co-operate regarding this representation.
Ove Bejsnap thought, that it
is not a task for EDBU to interfere in national affairs and therefore make
certain that the constitution under no circumstances expresses interference.
Geir Jensen understood, that
a membership of an association at the same time meant a right to vote and a
right to speak at the general assembly, and this was not the case in WFDB. FNDB
could therefore only become an associated member of WFDB.
Ove Bejsnap closed the
exchange of opinions and requested the meeting to keep to the agenda.
Serguei Sirotkine informed
that EBU and EBU deafblindcommission held a meeting at the end of June and the
beginning of July in Italy. There, different themes for the 5th
deafblind conference in Denmark, was discussed, and it was decided to add a few
extra themes to the existing. A strategi for the conference was also descussed.
The goal of the conference
should be to give a strong result which could have an effect on all of Europe
both politically and socially.
All talks should have a
global element and hereby ensure a illustration of deafblind people’s problems
both nationally and internationally.
Serguei Sirotkine called for a confirmation from the committee on the selection of strategy. Serguei Sirotkine would ensure that all countries were informed about this strategy and thereby actively being able to work for a good result.
The three main themes at the
conference will be:
a. ”Basic needs of deafblind people under conditions of modern society”
b. The rights of deafblind people and responsibility
of the state. (Bengt Lingvist anbefales at tale om dette tema)
c.
Disability
problems of deafblind people in modern society.
Other
themes are closely related to these main themes and are named sub themes.
Serguei
Sirotkine informed that the deafblind commission had agreed to the following
recommendation regarding the deafblind conference:
·
The conference shall be open to the public and the media.
·
All information regarding the conference and resolutions shall be
distributed to all national governments and authorities.
·
A conference structure which could consist of either plenary sessions,
where the main themes are discussed, and the sub themes should be discussed in
workshops (this is the traditionel structure) or otherwise talks in plenary
sessions with subsequent discussions in the house. The latter option means the
number af talks should be reduced and each lecturer shall have more time for
his talk.
·
The lecturer’s should be chosen carefully and be competent.
·
Furthermore the talk should end by the lecturer suggesting a solution
for the problems which they raise in their talk.
·
Resolution shall be worked out, for use in the future work in the
deafblind organizations.
Ove
Bejsnap thanked Serguei Sirotkine for his comprehensive information. The
members of the deafblind commission have carried out a fine piece of work.
Tiina
Nummi-Södergren informed that the EBU board discussed these issues at their
meeting in London in June 2002. At that meeting she informed about the
distribution of responsibilities in connection with the joint arrangement next
year. The EBU board had furthermore read the minutes of the committee meeting
from the 15th-16th of December 2001.
EBU
realised that they have a key role in regards to creating interest from the
member organizations with the purpose of supporting deafblind people’s
participation. Both regarding information about the event as to financial
support for participation.
The
structure of EBU is so, that the membership fee is set depending on each
country’s financial level. Therefore there is a clear opinion has been stated,
that as far as it is possible for the wealthy membership countries to help the
less wealthy, they should. Therefore it is important to have information
regarding the conferencen sent out this autumn.
Ove
Bejsnap expressed great pleasure that EBU was so positive regarding the joint
arrangement, and the optimism rises as the chairperson, John Wall, is also
engaged in the subject.
Serguei
Sirotkine suggested that a letter also should be sent to the deaf organizations
requesting for their support for the arrangement, so deafblind representatives
could have the possibility to participate in the conference.
Ove
Bejsnap thanked Serguei Sirotkine. The chairperson for the European Union of
the Deaf, EUD, is Danish, Knud Søndergaard. Knud Søndergaard has also shown
interest for our work. Besides that EDF has followed our work and shown great
interest in deafblind people establishing an independent European organization.
Tiina
Nummi-Södergren added that the chairman of EDF is Greek and is also in the
board of EBU. He has therefore already informed several organizations about the
founding and the conference.
Tiina
Nummi-Södergren asked about the co-operation with the Danish Association of the
Blind and in particular regarding EU financing of the conference.
Ove
Bejsnap informed that so far he had held three meetings with the Danish
Association of the Blind, DBS, and among other things, also whether DBS could
support the conference and how we should apply for funds in EU.
Our
contact in DBS is John Heilbrunn.
Ove
Bejsnap asked if Stig Ohlson would have the floor.
Stig
Ohlson informed that WFDB is arranging a congress in 2005. The conference in
Colombia and last year in New Zealand cost over $100.000 each. WFDB can
therefore not contribute with money for the European arrangement next year, but
on the other hand we can help informing about the arrangement. We have almost
finished building up an electronic newspaper on the internet and would like to
reserve a sertain place where EDBU can inform about their work.
You
should not forget the wealthy deafblind organizations. You can also approch
FSDB and the other Nordic organizations and suggest that they each sponser one
paticipant from a less wealthy country.
Ove
Bejsnap thanked Stig Ohlson and agreed that information is important and we
will make use of the offer that WFDB vi atheir electronic newspaper can inform
about EDBU and the deafblind conference.
Mona-Britt
Broberg was not so certain that FSDB was so wealthy at the moment, but
naturally thay were better off than many others. The government grant has been
cut down. FSDB will investigate if it is possible to contribute to a joint
arrangement one way or the other. The next board meeting is the 15th
of December where Mona-Britt Broberg will raise this question.
She
also drew attention to the funds within the year of disabled next year.
Maybe
it would be possible to have other organizations apply on behalf of EDBU.
Geir
Jensen noted that the interim board of EDBU has come far with this work. We
started in Tammerfors in 1999 without any finances, and step by step we have
Jmoved forward and had good contacts and support from EBU. On eof the results of
the co-operation with EBU have been the establishment of this committee, which
we are in today.
We
have even achived agreeing to planning and carrying out a joint arrangement. He
uttered great satisfaction with the work so far. Geir Jensen thanked Ove
Bejsnap and the secretariat in Denmark for their effort.
The
mutual briefing was hereby accepted and the item finished.
b.
Election of chairperson for the committee for a two-year period.
Ove
Bejsnap stated that the guidelines for the Committee have been adopted by the
EDBU interim board and by the EBU board.
Hereafter
it came round to the election of chairperson for the Committee fo rthe next two
years.
Serguei
Sirotkine suggested Ove Bejsnap as the chairperson for the Committee until
2004.
Geir
Jensen supported Serguei Sirotkine’s suggestion.
Tiina
Nummi-Södergren also supprted Serguei Sirotkine’s suggestion.
Ove
Bejsnap thanked for the trust and would undertake the task, but directed the
attention to the fact that the founding of EDBU in 2003 can mean consisting of
a different board after the founding.
The Committee
agreed to elect Ove Bejsnap as the chairperson for the Committee with the
adding that the president of EDBU after the founding in 2003 will take over the
chairmanship of the Committee.
Serguei
Sirotkine recommended that the guidelines for the Committee be adjusted so thay
take into consideration the board elections in EDBU and EBU.
The Committee
did not find that necessary, as long as there in these minutes of the meeting
today, draw attention to the fact that in the future considerations should be
made regarding board elections and also selecting representatives for the
Committee. Change in the guidelines we cannot do, as it is the responsibility
of the board of EDBU and EBU.
Item 5 - Program
draft for the 5th deafblind conference and the founding of EDBU 18th-23rd
of Ectober 2003.
a.
Distribution of responsibilities.
As
the arrangement starts with the EBU deafblind conference, it is natural that
Serguei Sirotkine opens this arrangement.
Between
the two events an excursion is planned and the Association of the Danish
Deafblind would like to take responsibility of this task.
The
opening of the founding congress is carried out by the temporary chairperson
for the interim board in EDBU, Ove Bejsnap.
Ove
Bejsnap mentioned that as it is the Association of the Danish Deafblind that is
hosting the arrangement, it is also FDDB who is responsible for reserving
rooms and administering the finances in
connection with the arrangement. FDDB has chosen Ilse Bellamy as the
co-ordinator for this work.
Geir
Jensen found Ove Bejsnap’s comments good nad agreed to his points of view. Geir
Jensen asked, if the Danish Blind Association has any areas of responsibility?
Furthermore Ove Bejsnap mentioned that Serguei Sirotkine is responsible for the
opening of the conference, but should the president of EBU and EUD not be
present?
Ove
Bejsnap answered that the Danish Blind Association is co-operating with the EBU
deafblind commission regarding the planning of the 5th deafblind
conference. It should be the decision of Serguei Sirotkine to determine who he
will invite for the opening ceremony.
In
connection with the opening of the EDBU congress Ove Bejsnap has thought of
inviting the president of WFDB, EBU, EUD and EDF.
Geir
Jensen thanked for the answer.
b.
Finances.
Ove
Bejsnap informed that the Danish Blind
Association and the Association of the Danish Deafblind each have donated
50.000 DKK. So there is a total of
100.000 DKK in contribution to the arrangement.
Furthermore
a letter has been sent to the chairperson of EBU, John Wall, to ask for support
for the joint arrangement. John Wall has replied positively, that EBU will make
an effort so that the wealthy member countries in EBU will be requested to
support the participation of deafblind people.
Ove
Bejsnap requested Ilse Bellamy to go through the budget and inform about the
fundraising work.
Tiina
Nummi-Södergren also thought that EBU should send a letter to the member
countries with an explaination about the arrangement and a list of the persons
who are not capable of covering their own expenses for participation. This
would leave a strong signal to the member countries, when the board of EBU and
the chairpaerson, John Wall, show that they supprt the cause.
Ilse
Bellamy began with looking through the budget which FDDB has worked out so far
for the arrangement.
The
budget has been set for the following number of participants:
14
from from Denmark and 15 from the other European countries. This number is most
likely not realistic as more will come , but it will be the number we will try
to raise money for.
All
in all for lecturers, excursion, reception, participant fee, and so on, there
are expenses total of DKK 368.000. Deducting grants already received and
reimbursements fra Danish minicipalities for guide expenses, we will reach an
expanse of DKK 188.000.
Ilse
Bellamy could inform that she in co-operation with John Heilbrunn has
investigated the possibility of applying for EU funds, also funds earmarked for
activities in connection with the European Year of Disability. The conclusion
of that work was that fundraising within the EU takes a lot of resources and
therefore we have to admit that we do not have those resources. Instead we have
to put our trust in the belief that the wealthy member countries in EBU and
EDBU will be obliging to contributing to the participation of deafblind people.
From
this moment on in the meeting the chairperson of the Swedish Association of the
Blind, Lennart Nolte, participated, and Ove Bejsnap welcomed him.
Serguei
Sirotkine told that EBU wishes to see a budget of the expenses for the joint
arrangement, and recommended that Ove Bejsnap would work this out. Furthermore
the budget should be sent to the European deaf organization via EUD.
Ove
Bejsnap informed that EUD is not a wealthy
organization.
Ilse
Bellamy added that a budget has not been sent forward to EBU. To begin with, it
was important to know the attitude of EBU to support the deafblind
participants. Furthermore we have been in contact with the chairperson of EUD,
Knud Søndergaard, who gave some advise on fundraising within the EU. Among
other things, he mentioned it was important to be able to present an
organization with members from the EU countries.
Ilse
Bellamy suggested that the Committee should be creative and put down a strategy
for how the budget we present in connection to applying for funds, should look
like. Travel expenses for the participants have not been set on the budget.
Tiina
Nummi-Södergren mentioned that EBU would like a clarification on approximately
how many would participate in theh joint arrangement.
It
is also important that we state how we imagine the expenses to be covered.
Ilse
Bellamy could inform that we have to pay full price for the lodging at the
conference center of the Danish Blind Association.
Geir
Jensen informed that FNDB cannot contribute with grants for the arrangement,
but that FNDB would like to offer other secretary assistance for the work. FNDB
har prior contributed with DKK 15.000 for the EDBU work.
Regarding
travel expenses, Stig Ohlson informed that monay can be saved, if one travels
during the weekend.
Ilse
Bellamy informed that the joint arrangement will start Saturday the 18th
of October and end after breakfast Thursday the 23rd of October.
Friday the 17th of October, 17 rooms have been reserved for those
who need to arrive on the Friday to save travel expenses.
Lennart
Nolte was given the floor before the meeting was finished prior to dinner.
He
informed that the Swedish Blind Association during the years has had a good
co-operation with FSDB, and therefore we have had a lot of knowledge of the
situation of deafblind people and the power that exists in people who wishes to
do something. The work that FSDB and deafblind people around the world are
carrying out, is an example to what people can achive when they have will. It
is a pleasure to see that deafblind have established their international
organization and a pleasure that deafblind people in Europe will have their own
organization next year. It is positive development and it is also positive that
the blind organizations in Europe will support this work. Lennart Nolte
finished by wishing the Committee good luck with their part of the work. He was
convinced that a great number of people will gather in Denmark next year and go
through the founding meeting of EDBU. He wished everyone a good saty at Almåsa.
Lennart Nolte did not participate in the rest of the meeting.
c.
PR
Ove
Bejsnap suggested that a closer discussion of the programme and its contents be
taken under this item. All agreed to this.
The
draft for a time schedule was discussed as the first.
Serguei
Sirotkine wished to know the attitude of the Committee regarding the practical
completion of the deafblind conference. Should the traditional way of talks
with subsequent workshops be chosen, or talk and discussion all in plenary
sessions?
Ove
Bejsnap thought well of the traditional way with plenary talks and workshops.
Stig
Ohlson asked if he could be informed of the time division between the
conference and the founding of EDBU.
Ove
Bejsnap answered that the conference will be carried out the 18th-19th
of October, the excursion the 20th of October, hereafter the
founding congress the 21st and 22nd of October, and
departure the 23rd of October.
Stig
Ohlson asked if there is registration the 18th of October in the
morning.
Ilse
Bellamy answered that the programme has been planning so registration will
start at from 11 am. Hereafter the official opening of the EBU deafblind
conference will take place after lunch. It is also possible to have a programme
in the evening that day and the following, if
necessary.
Tiina
Nummi-Södergren noted that in her experience from EBU’s own conferences ,
working out resolutions took time and demanded a working party, which only had
this as their task.
Depending
on the language understanding EBU have at times chosen plenary sessions and not
workshops. It also takes time to end plenary sessions and move to another room,
when you are a large group. The disadvantage of plenary sesions is that less
will have the possibility to speak compared to workshops, which proposes that
more can discuss specific issues. An option is also to offer workshops and
plenary sessions at the same time.
Serguei
Sirotkine thought that Tiina Nummi-Södergren had a good statement and the
deafblind commission had discussed the issue at their meeting in Rome. They
realised that plenary sessions will mean solving many practical problems. On
the other hand, it would also mean reducing the talks. The programme draft
which has been made will not give us sufficient time and therefore Serguei
Sirotkine suggested that the conference also continued in the morning of the 20th
of October and thereby postponing the excursion until the afternoon.
Furthermore an evening programme could be scheduled either the 18th
or 19th of October. An evening programme could be used for working
on the resolutions. This would mean that the resolution committee will be
working in the evening and others with interest are also welcome. The other
participants can join social gatherings in the evening. In the case that we
should reduce the number of talks, we should instead make the contents wider.
Stig
Ohlson apologised for interfering in the discussion. The experience from the
world conference in New Zealand showed that one should not plan a too tight
schedule. There will definetely be language problems and participants from the
Eastern part of Europe will only bring one interpreter, which means that they
cannot manage to paticipate in an evening programme. The evenings are good for
creating contacts to other deafblind people. Using the morning of the 20th
of October for a summary of resolutions sounds good.
Stig
Ohlson recommended to look at the conference programme from New Zealand and get
ideas from this.
The Committee
agreed to expend the deafblind conference until the morning of the 20th
of October and thereafter arrange an excursion in the afternoon the same day.
The
Committee discussed advantages and disadvantages by the two conference types.
The advantage with workshops is meeting other deafblind with the same interest
and thereby having the opportunity to build up a network. The disadvantage is
that there are language problems and the question is how much the individual
can participate in. Under all circumstances resolutions are important to work
out.
The Committee
recommended the deafblindcommission to work towards a conference type that
takes into consideration that deafblind people shall have the possibility to
establish personal contacts for the benefit of the work in each home country
and to strenghten the group spirit among deafblind people in Europe.
Furthermore it
was recommended to point out a resolutionscommittee.
Serguei
Sirotkine said that he would look through the conference programme from the
world conference and look at the possibility of having talks in the morning and
workshops in the afternoon.
Stig
Ohlson suggested that a resolutions committee be established, which could be
responsible for working out resolutions. In October 2003 the work regarding the
FN convention of the human rights of people with disabilities will have come
far. The working party is meeting in the summer 2003 and at that time they will
most likely have a draft ready. The main organizations involved in the work are
WFD, WBU, WFDB, and others also have a draft reasy. It would be good if the
deafblindconference raised this issue in a resolution. In approx. three years
the Convention will be finished.
Serguei
Sirotkine was satisfied with the exchange of opinions in the Committee
regarding the conference forms, and thought that more discussion could be done
via e-mail.
Hereafter
Serguei Sirotkine wished to discuss his suggestion for lecturers and selection
of themes. A list has been sent to the Committee. Several answers on e-mail has
been received.Regarding the first theme about the basic needs of deafblind
people in modern society, two suggestions have been received. Geir Jensen has
suggested Ove Bejsnap as a lecturer at this theme. Ove Bejsnap undertook this
task. Serguei Sirotkine
concluded that Ove Bejsnap talks on this theme.
Thereafter
Geir Jensen was suggested as a lecturer on the theme deafblind and legislation,
and he expressed that he would take the task upon himself.
It
should be specifically stated how wide the issue should be treated. Serguei
Sirotkine wished that Geir Jensen should talk about legislation in Europe, but
use Norway as a good example.
Ove
Bejsnap raised the question whether the theme “legislation” would give us a
useful benefit as legislation does not solve problems for deafblind people in
Europe. The Nordic countries have for example different legislation in the
area, and a greater difference in the legislation in the rest of Europe.
Stig
Ohlson thought that under this theme, one could take the FN convention of the
human rights of people with disabilities into account. It will be an
international law with high objectives. This can be used as a comparison to the
legislation in each country.
Tiina
Nummi-Södergren found the theme legislation interesting and it could be
discussed both in plenary sessions and in workshops. You could discuss
legislation regarding the status of sign language and the status of braille.
She also recommended to work in discussions and comparisons of the FN
convention of the human rights of people with disabilities with national
legislations.
Serguei
Sirotkine thanked for the comments and agreed to the suggestion of working in
the material on the FN convention of the human rights of people with
disabilities.
The
theme of rights of deafblind people and obligations of the state could also
have legislation as a sub-theme. Bengt Lindqvist was suggested as a lecturer.
Stig
Ohlson informed that Bengt Lindqvist is difficult to reach. He retires in 2003
which means he has time. If he is not available, Kikki Nordstrøm or Lisa
Kaupinen could be asked.
Serguei
Sirotkine will investigate this.
If neither Bengt
Lindqvist or the other persons were available for attendance, it was agreed
that Geir Jensen in his talk would work both themes in.
The
talk should last approx. 30 min.
As time was
short, it was decided only to discuss the main themes at this meeting and
discuss sub-themes by e-mail.
The
third main theme will be special disability problems which deafblind have in
modern society. Serguei Sirotkine has suggested Stig Ohlson for this. Stig
Ohlson had previously answered that he unfortunately was engaged at that time.
Stig
Ohlson wanted to know when the manuscript should be sent? If he could wait
until August, he would undertake the task. Serguei Sirotkine answered that it
was okay to send the manuscript by August 2003. Hereafter Stig Ohlson could inform that he would
undertake the task and thanked for the trust.
Serguei
Sirotkine thanked for this.
The fourth theme Serguei Sirotkine thought could be information
technology. The deafblindcommision had suggested Angela Pimpenella as a
lecturer. She had replied that she would like to undertake the task, but were
only able to talk regarding the situation in Italy. Serguei Sirotkine wished a
wider perspective on the theme. Stig Ohlson recommended Peter Van Houtte from
Belgium or Linda Eriksson from Sweden. Serguei Sirotkine could inform that Petr
Van Houtte has answered that he would like to talk on personal assistance for
deafblind people from the state.
The discussion ended and Serguei Sirotkine thanked for the comments from
the Committee. Ove Bejsnap asked Serguei Sirotkine to give greetings to the
members of the deafblindcommission.
Stig Ohlson asked if he could take a picture of the Committee and put on
the homepage of WFDB. This was accepted.
Ove Bejsnap shortly mentioned that the EDBU congress will consist of an
official opening, hereafter a discussion of the constitution and the actual
general assembly will be the 22nd of October 2003.
The interim board of EDBU has, on their meeting, pointed to Stig Ohlson
as a first priority as a suggestion for chairperson for the general assembly.
We have approached Stig Ohlson and he has informed that he will undertake the
task if the participants elect him.
The item was hereby finished.
Ove Bejsnap thanked Tiina Nummi-Södergren for planning the meeting at
aAlmåsa with a very fine service. Furthermore the Committee members were
thanked for their effort.
The observers thanked for the possibility to attend the meeting.
The next meeting in the Committee was suggested to be Saturday the 29th-
Sunday the 30th of March 2003 at Fuglsangcentret in Fredericia.
(After the meeting Serguei Sirotkine informed Ilse Bellamy that he preferred a
meeting one week prior or two weeks after the suggested date)
Ove Bejsnap closed the meeting.