2nd Community-based Rehabiliation Continental Congress

On 3-5 March, the 2nd Community-based Rehabiliation (CBR) Continental Congress was held in Oaxaca, Mexico. The Congress was jointly organized by the Pan American Health Organization, WHO, UNICEF, the Community-based Rehabilitation Network of the Americas and the Caribbean, the National Agency for Family Development (DIF), Consejo Nacional para las Personas con Discapacidad (CONADIS), Piña Palmera, CBM and the Oaxaca local government. More than 550 participants from 17 Latin American countries took part in the Congress including many people with disabilities and their organizations. Participants developed the "Oaxaca Manifesto" which calls upon States to include people with disabilities in the development of their communities and societies by implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and promoting the use of CBR in public policies. The next Congress will take place in 2013 in Bogota, Colombia. The CBR America and Caribbean Network, formed following the last CBR Congress, will work towards implementation of the Oaxaca Manifesto in the coming years