EASY ACCESS: Facilities for the disabled are a feature of the Shanghai Expo (XINHUA)

One of the ambitions of the organizers of World Expo 2010 Shanghai China is to take the philosophy, "Better City, Better Life" and ensure it is a motto that can be shared by all human beings. By establishing a pavilion named "Life & Sunshine," they have laid their cards on the table with a historic attempt to pursue this principle.

The Life & Sunshine Pavilion is the first pavilion in the 159-year history of the Expo especially designed for people with disabilities. Organizers believe the establishment of such a specialized exhibition hall during the global event will draw more attention to the rights of people with disabilities around the world and promote measures to assist them.

"The receptionists and tourist guides in the pavilion will all be volunteers with disabilities. So, visitors can better understand the real life experience of disadvantaged people, who have also played a role in the creation of human civilization and history," said Cao Ziping, Vice President of Shanghai Disabled Persons' Federation (SDPF) and curator of the pavilion.

The Life & Sunshine Pavilion is located in one of the five theme pavilions of the Expo - Urbanian Pavilion. By displaying an 8-minute long documentary on a 180-degree round screen, and introducing some sound and light interactive games and hi-tech facilities that provide access for people with disabilities, the designers of the pavilion try to explain a "better urban life for people with disabilities."

Organizers estimate that some 600,000 tourists are expected to visit the Life & Sunshine Pavilion during the 184-day Expo.

Even though the majority of visitors coming for Expo pavilions, including the Life & Sunshine Pavilion, will not be people with disabilities, the Expo Park is still decked-out with barrier-free facilities. In other words, within the 3.28-square-km garden, all the main pavilions are equipped with dedicated equipment ranging from visit-booking systems, pass ways, elevators, toilets, reception desks, telephones, water dispensers, and signs pointing to parking spaces. The pavilions also offer services such as sign language translation of videos, audio explanations and Braille guides.

"People with disabilities are important members of a city," said Cao, adding that under the Expo theme, the Life & Sunshine Pavilion is set to describe a city life through which people with disabilities can enjoy the happiness of "equality, participation and sharing."

Picturing a better life

The Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlements, published in 1996 by UN Habitat II conference, offers a positive vision of sustainable human settlements: "a world where everyone can live in a safe home with the promise of a decent life of dignity, good health, safety, happiness and hope."

If that is to be seen as the picture of a better life for all human beings in the future, what would it mean to people with disabilities?

China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF), organizer of the Life & Sunshine Pavilion, believes that a better life in the future for people with disabilities can be viewed in two main aspects. One is a humanistic environment with sound legal systems in which the rights of people with disabilities are well understood, respected and protected. The other is the technical support that allows people with disabilities to have all kinds of access to barrier-free facilities so that they can equally participate in social life and enjoy the fruits of development.

Wang Zhijun, former Vice President of CDPF and expert consultant for the Life & Sunshine Pavilion, further explained the philosophy. According to him, the improvement of living conditions for people with disabilities should be achieved by solving their most pressing concerns, such as rehabilitation, education, employment and social security.

The facts

Data from CDPF shows that there are 83 million people with disabilities in China, accounting for 6.34 percent of the country's population. In 2009, along with carrying out community-based rehabilitation work for people with disabilities in 807 cities and 1,569 counties, the Chinese Government established 114,862 community rehabilitation stations, employing 209,000 community-based rehabilitation coordinators. In the same year, 9.84 million disabled people were covered by rehabilitation services, of which 6.2 million gained varying degrees of successful rehabilitation.

The recently released 2009 Bulletin for China's Disabled Persons by CDPF shows the coverage of social security and education for people with disabilities has been further improved compared with one year ago. It also found that their employment situation was affected to a certain degree by the impact of the economic crisis (see chart).

"Although the living conditions of people with disabilities have seen continuous improvement in our country, its extent is still limited," said Zheng Gongcheng, professor at Renmin University of China and Vice President of the China Disability Research Society (CDRS). In his speech in a seminar with CDRS, he emphasized that the unfavorable distribution of resources, the incomplete social policy system, and the pressure caused by an aging disabled population are the main reasons for the limited improvement.

According to Zheng, the principle of promoting and ensuring that all people with disabilities fully and equally enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms already has a legal basis in China. "All we need is to keep working to reach the goal."

The experience of many organizations has shown that working in collaboration with businesses on social welfare issues is an efficient method for promoting measures to help people with disabilities.

SDPF, organizer of the Life & Sunshine Pavilion, has rich experience in this regard. In October 2005, after two years of experimental cooperation, the Labor Service Center of SDPF and the Novotel Atlantis Hotel, a luxury business hotel in downtown Shanghai, established a formal long-term partnership.

According to the agreement signed by the two sides, the Novotel Atlantis, as a practice base, offers professional training as well as job opportunities to people with disabilities who would like to work in the hotel industry. And the SDPF provides the trainees with information and communication services. 

By December 2007, 148 participants finished their training courses respectively in the Western cuisine kitchen, the laundry and ironing department, the public area cleaning team, and the greenhouse. A total of 86 trainees found jobs after the training, including 11 who were employed as permanent employees in the hotel and have already become part of the backbone of their work teams.

Cai Fang, a spokeswoman for the training project, believes that for people with disabilities, equal employment means having the opportunity to do jobs that match their physical conditions and level of experience. This philosophy underpins the project at the Novotel Atlantis.

Making headway

Official data shows that in Shanghai from 2003 to 2007, over 46,000 people with disabilities in urban areas were employed while 19,200 severely disabled people without social security insurance were given basic medical insurance for the first time. In rural areas, all disabled people were covered by pension insurance and medical care programs.

Among the 32 provincial federations for people with disabilities in China (including autonomous regions and municipalities), SDPF is a typical example. It has been estimated that there are 48,279 local federations and 15,363 special societies in China working for disabled persons, ranging from municipal level to county and community levels.

Stories about the progress of rights for people with disabilities are becoming a daily occurrence. The latest news is that, according to regulations from the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, five new categories of people with disabilities can apply for driving licenses from April 1, 2010. This includes those with right lower limb and both lower limb disabilities (those with left lower limb disability were already permitted a driver's license).

Zhang Haidi, President of CDPF, who had already expressed her desire to learn how to drive, is expected to become one of the first with "both lower limbs disability" in China to have a driving license.

Zhang, a legend in the eyes of most Chinese people, is plainly confident in the development of society's undertaking to help disadvantaged people in China. "People with disabilities are our brothers and sisters. Only if all of us live a good life, can there be a truly harmonious society," she said. At an event to celebrate the anniversary of the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, she said she believed that with support from all parts of the society, there will surely be a bright future for China's disabled people.

Source: CDPF