Contacts: Phil Hay (202) 473-1796 – office
(202) 409-2909 - cell
Phay@worldbank.org
Stevan Jackson (202) 458-5054- office
(202) 437-6295 cell
Sjackson@worldbank.org
Cynthia Case McMahon (TV/Radio) (202) 473-2243
Ccase@worldbank.org WASHINGTON, June 3, 2002—Judith E. Heumann has been appointed as the World Bank’s first-ever Adviser, Disability and Development in the Human Development Network, President James D. Wolfensohn announced today. In her new position, Heumann, an internationally recognized expert on disability and diversity issues, will lead the World Bank's disability work and highlight its importance, include it in the Bank discussions with client countries, its country-based analytical work, and support for improving policies, programs, and projects that allow disabled people to live and work in the economic and social mainstream of their communities. Some 400 million people in developing countries are thought to be disabled, many of whom are excluded from school or the workplace and forced to depend on their family for lifetime support. Older disabled people run the risk of being shunned or segregated, and forced to live on the margins of life. For this reason, the Word Bank says helping to improve the social and job prospects of marginalized populations of disabled people in poor countries around the world is key to reducing poverty and spurring development. “Bringing marginalized populations into the mainstream of developing countries is a vital step in reducing poverty, and extending hope, and a chance to thrive, to people who may only have known discrimination and exclusion,” says Wolfensohn. “ All people in developing countries should have equal opportunities, and by choosing such a prominent disability champion as Judy Heumann, the World Bank is now poised to take a quantum leap in its disability work in developing countries.” Heumann, who had polio in 1949 and uses a motorized wheelchair, has worked extensively with governments and NGOs since the 1970s to contribute to the development of human rights legislation and policies benefiting disabled children and adults and to the worldwide development of the self-help and independent living movement. From 1993 to 2001, she served as Assistant Secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services at the Department of Education, supervising a program that served almost 6 million disabled children and adults nationwide. Her recent international activities have included co-chairing of the International Leadership Forum for Women with Disabilities, which brought together 600 participants from 80 countries, and policy consultations with governmental and non-governmental agencies in Mexico, Brazil, Japan, China and throughout Europe. “With Judy joining the Bank, we will make sure that disability gets a front seat in our efforts to fight poverty and help our clients to achieve the Millennium Development Goals”, says Robert Holzmann, World Bank Director, Social Protection, Human Development Network. “She is an inspiring person, and very highly regarded in the development community for her expertise and commitment.” Heumann co-founded the World Institute on Disability, the first public policy research think tank devoted to disability issues. She also shaped and co-directed the nation's first Center on Independent Living in Berkeley, California, a self-help and human rights organization. She serves as a member of the board of directors on many public policy and service organizations. In recognition of her collaborative work on diversity and human rights issues, Heumann has received numerous awards. “I don’t see my disability as a tragedy,” says Heumann, who, as a disabled public school teacher in New York once sued the State Board of Education to obtain her teaching certificate.“ What is a tragedy is when disabled people are not welcomed into the economic mainstream of a community and not given the chance to work for their own hopes and dreams. That’s a vision that I want to be able to bring to the Bank, of including disability into existing and future initiative such as Education For All, our children and youth work, and other programs. I’m excited about coming to the Bank to help put disability firmly on the Bank’s radar, and that of developing countries as well.” Heumann, a US national, received her Master of Public Health in 1975 from the University of California, Berkeley, an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in 1995 from Long Island University, Long Island, NY and an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Public Administration, in 2001 from University of Illinois, Champaign, IL. Up until her new appointment, she was managing her own consulting firm which provides consulting services on disability issues. Her appointment is effective June 3, 2002. For more information on the Bank’s work in the area of disability, visit: http://www.worldbank.org/sp then click on “disability” - |
RSS