Rehabilitation International (RI) held its 2023 autumn meeting of the RI Executive Committee and the Governing Assembly of RI members in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, from Dec 3 to 5. Zhang Haidi, president of RI, presided over the meetings. [Photo/cdpf.org.cn]
Rehabilitation International (RI) held its 2023 autumn meeting of the RI Executive Committee and the Governing Assembly of RI members in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, from Dec 3 to 5. Zhang Haidi, president of RI, presided over the meetings.
In her speech, Zhang pointed out that this executive committee meeting was the first since RI's centennial celebration, which was held in Beijing in May. The meeting was of great significance for RI's further development over the next century, she added.
She outlined work requirements for the executive committee and introduced the progress made in building the University of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences in China, expressing gratitude to the committee members for their valuable suggestions and support for the construction of the university. Though based in China, Zhang noted that the university is a global institution. She proposed to establish a global organization involving disability-related affairs within the United Nations framework, creating a global structure for managing disability-related affairs to benefit the 1.3 billion people with disabilities around the world.
At the meeting, the executive committee deliberated on work reports from the RI's regional branches, special committees, the secretary general and treasurer. They also examined preparation work for the 2024 RI World Congress and deliberated the organization's future development.
The RI's 2022 auditor's report and 2024 budget were approved at the Governing Assembly of RI members, during which the follow-up work of the centennial celebration, the preparation plan for the 2024 RI World Congress and the RI's key tasks and future work were discussed.
Zhang, together with Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia Zhao Zhiyuan and RI executive committee members, attended and addressed the capping ceremony of the renovation project of the Alpha School for the Deaf, supported by the RI Foundation. They also distributed daily necessities and stationary to students and visited an exhibition on disability employment projects funded by the RI Africa Fund.
During her stay in Ethiopia, Zhang held talks with Ambassador Zhao and joined a youth reading group hosted by the Chinese embassy in Ethiopia, where she encouraged young people to fuel their passions and pursue their dreams. She also visited the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Ethiopia Construction Private limited Company and expressed her gratitude to the employees for undertaking the renovation project of the Alpha School and introduced the remarkable achievements made in disability-related affairs.
She also visited Addis Ababa University and delivered a speech in English. She conducted an in-depth discussion with representatives from the university on the training of rehabilitation professionals and invited the university's staff to visit the University of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences in China.
Upon the invitation of the former speaker of the Ethiopian Parliament, Zhang paid a visit to the Deborah Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of Ethiopian youth with intellectual disabilities through support in the areas of education, health, and policy advocacy, to survey its rehabilitation services for children with Down syndrome and cerebral palsy, during which she discussed the prospect of future cooperation between RI and the foundation. Zhao also participated in the survey.