On May 4 local time, the inauguration ceremony of the Friends of the Chair (FotC) on Promoting Disability Policies, a forum created within the APEC Human Resources Working Group, was held in Arequipa, Peru, to promote policies on persons with disabilities.
The FotC serves as a way for APEC economies to exchange best practices and experience, as well as enhance individual and collective actions to address challenges faced by persons with disabilities and advance economic inclusion.
You Liang, vice chairperson of the Board of Executive Directors of the China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF), was invited to attend the inauguration and was appointed coordinator of the FotC.
At the inauguration, You engaged in a dialogue with experts on the Inclusion and Empowerment of People with Disabilities Using Digital Strategies. He analyzed the opportunities and challenges brought by the digital age for persons with disabilities and introduced China's policies and successful practices in promoting employment of persons with disabilities through digital technology. He called on all economies to take concrete measures to promote the integrated development of affairs related to persons with disabilities and ensure that no person with disabilities is left behind in the digital era.
From May 5 to 8, You participated in the 49th plenary meeting of the APEC Human Resources Development Working Group. During the event, he presented the vision of the FotC, took part in a dialogue on building inclusive education systems, and spoke at the closing meeting calling on all economies to take practical actions to promote the economic empowerment for persons with disabilities.
The meeting adopted the outcome document, the Arequipa Goals, pledging to promote the empowerment and inclusive development of persons with disabilities in education, employment, and capacity building.
APEC is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies, and the Human Resources Development Working Group is one of the working groups under the Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) Steering Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation, which is responsible for promoting development in education, employment, labor protection, and capacity building.
In 2014, during APEC Economic Leaders' Week in Beijing, the CDPF held an event on facilitating persons with disabilities to share economic and social development achievements, advocating for the inclusion of disability affairs in APEC's work mechanism and having been advancing this initiative ever since.