Turia to represent NZ at Pacific Disability Forum
Hon Tariana Turia
Minister for Disability Issues
21 October 2009
Media Advisory
Turia to represent NZ at Pacific Disability Ministers Forum
Tariana Turia will leave Aotearoa today to attend the first meeting of Pacific Disability Ministers in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. She returns to New Zealand on Sunday October 25.
The conference will be attended by ministers, government officials and community representatives from Australia, Cook Islands, Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Soloman Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
This will be the first meeting of Forum Disability Ministers and will have the theme: Strengthening Partnerships for Disability Development in the Pacific. The objectives of the 2009 Ministerial meeting are:
• To review progress in the implementation of the
Biwako Millennium Framework in Pacific Island Forum
countries and its application for the implementation of the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
• To strengthen regional commitment to disability
inclusive development through a Pacific Regional Strategy
for disability.
• To strengthen Forum Island Country
governments and Disabled Persons Organisation partnerships
ENDS