The World Blind Union Children’s Committee    

By June Waugh, MS, MFT

An important event occurred this past year in the lives of blind children throughout the world. The World Blind Union, consisting of 154 member countries, established for the first time a Committee on Children. As yet in its very formative stages the committee consists of members from each of the six regions of the world. Ms. Kicki Nordstrom, newly elected President of the WBU, established this committee at the onset of her four-year presidency. Although the WBU has standing committees on rehabilitation, technology, deaf-blindness, aging, youth, and women, it has never had a committee to address the specific issues of children. Ms. Nordstrom was the driving force behind the WBU Women’s Committee. This committee has increased the presence of women in the WBU leadership as well as sponsored Women’s Forums in each region of the world during the past four years. The establishment of the Committee on Children signals an important expansion of the mission of the World Blind Union.

We are part of the North American/Caribbean Region of the World Blind Union. I have been asked to be the delegate to the Children’s Committee for our region. We initially created an Advisory Board for help in forming the worldwide committee’s priorities and goals. We were then asked to form a regional committee to work on the specific issues of blind and visually impaired children in North America and the Caribbean . Our current Children’s Committee consists of Dr. Deborah Gold, Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Dr. Creig Hoyt, UC San Francisco, Dr. Sally Deitz of New York, Dr. Bernadette Kappen of Overbrook School for the Blind, Dr. Karen Wolffe from AFB, Ms. Jill Tobin from ACB, and Ms. Joyce Scanlon from NFB.

Our Advisory Board consists of Dr. Lilli Nielsen of Denmark, Dr. Ian Bailey of UC Berkeley School of Optometry, Ms. Julie Bernas-Pierce of Blind Babies Foundation, Dr. Bill Good of San Francisco, and Dr. Stuart Wittenstein, California School for the Blind. We are in the company of many great minds!

The overall goal of the Children’s Committee is:

“To strive for the social and educational integration of blind and visually impaired children and to insure that their human rights are observed and protected within family, school, and community life.”

This is a tall order, but one that we in the field of special education for children who are blind and visually impaired have much expertise. This committee presents an exciting opportunity to become more aware of the status of blind children worldwide and to have an impact upon their lives.

My own experience with the World Blind Union has been very positive. I attended the Fourth General Assembly in Toronto in 1996 as an observer. I participated more actively in the Women’s Forum prior to the Conference. On a very personal level I felt included in that assemblage, even though I had a very peripheral role. It was a gathering of blind and visually impaired people from all over the world. In many instances the representatives to the Conference were the highest level of professionals in the blindness field in a particular country. It was an auspicious crowd. The unity of purpose and the shared humanity was palpable. A compelling asset of the World Blind Union is the working together of many different organizations. In our own region I was privileged to help facilitate a Women’s Forum in Granada in March of this year. On our committee were representatives form AER, NFB, ACB, AFB, CNIB. It sounds like alphabet soup, but it was enthusiastic participants from divergent organizations working together for a common goal. That is the potential for the Children’s Committee as well.

The first face-to-face meeting of the international committee will be held in India in March 2002. The Children’s Committee will also represent the WBU at the upcoming United Nations Special Session on Children in May 2002. Our hope for the North American region is to create an infrastructure in which we can contribute to the specific goals the committee develops. In addition, we are in the process of formulating goals specific to our region and its needs. We invite your expertise, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and any good ideas you may have for this committee. Thank you.

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