Persons with disabilities: STEP holds moot in collaboration with Telenor

Special Talent Exchange Programme (STEP) organised a three-day conference in collaboration with Telenor in order to provide recommendations to the government that help devise a formal strategy for implementation of UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
An International Leadership Conference for Persons with Disabilities began here on Monday. Telenor Pakistan, as part of its 'Khuddar Pakistan' programme, is a major partner of the organisers and is helping to highlight issues relating to persons with disabilities. The three-day conference has been organised by STEP, an Islamabad-based self-help NGO attended by representatives from disabled person's organisations, local and international NGOs, corporate sector, government and the media.
Some 150 leaders of organisations working on issues related to persons with disabilities from Pakistan as well as dignitaries from South Korea, India, UK, USA, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Thailand and Japan are attending. At the inauguration ceremony, Chief Financial Officer Telenor Pakistan Karl Erik Broten in his remarks said: "This year's Leadership Conference of Persons with Disabilities is the third such conference that Telenor Pakistan is a partner of.
From the first year as a national conference, the event's success elevated it to a Regional Leadership Conference level last year. This year's conference has acquired an international status and we are proud to be able to work with STEP and other partners once again and hope the conference will be able to meet its goals."
President STEP Muhammad Atif Sheikh in his opening comments said that he hoped the conference would prove instrumental in furthering the rights of persons with disabilities in Pakistan. "The Islamabad Recommendations on Regional Networking and Collaboration in South Asia - the outcome of last year's Leadership Conference - led to the Government of Pakistan's ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Other conference partners at this year's conference are Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sightsavers, British Council, Plan International, Unesco, CBM/CHEF International/Light for the World, Concern World-wide, US Embassy, Pakistan-US Alumni Network, and British Alumni Association Pakistan.