World Bank's Judy Heumann to be featured on “Disability Matters” with Joyce Bender
Judith E. Heumann, Advisor, Disability and Development in the Human Development network at the World Bank, will be featured with Joyce Bender on “Disability Matters” Internet talk radio program on Tuesday, April 13, 2004.
PITTSBURGH, PA (PRWEB) April 11, 2004
In her new position, Ms. Heumann, an internationally recognized expert on disability and diversity issues, leads the World Bank's disability work and highlights its importance. She also includes it in the Bank discussions with client countries, and its country-based analytical work. In addition, Ms. Heumann encourages support for improving policies, programs, and projects that allow disabled people to live and work in the economic and social mainstream of their communities.
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Ms. Heumann, who had polio in 1949 and uses a motorized wheelchair, has worked a great deal 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 world-wide development of the self-help and independent living movement. From 1993 to 2001, she served as the 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.
Ms. HeumannÂ’s recent international activities have included co-chairing 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, and China and throughout Europe.
“Disability is not a tragedy,” says Heumann, “but rather a normal part of life. It is a tragedy when disabled people are excluded from opportunities which would enable them to be part of the economic mainstream of society. Discrimination has denied hundreds of millions of disabled people around the world their right to receive education, health care, housing, transportation, and equal employment opportunities. I have committed my life to enabling disabled individuals and their families to have the same hopes and dreams as we have for nondisabled people. It is this vision that I bring to the bank.”
The host of Disability Matters, Joyce A. Bender, is President and CEO of Bender Consulting Services, Inc. (BCS) and its “sister company” Bender Consulting Services of Canada, Inc. (BCSC). BCS provides competitive employment opportunities for Americans with disabilities in the areas of information technology, engineering, finance/accounting, human resources and general business. Joyce has epilepsy and a hearing loss. In 1985, she had a life-threatening accident due to epilepsy, which caused an intracranial hemorrhage that required subsequent brain surgery. Against all odds, Joyce recovered from this accident that left her with a 60 percent hearing loss in one ear and a realization that she had epilepsy. As a result of her personal experience, she developed a passion for helping people with disabilities and founded both companies. BCS does business nationally within the United States, while BCSC works in both Ontario and Quebec.
For more information on World Bank’s work in the area of disability, visit, http://www. worldbank. org/sp (http://www. worldbank. org/sp) then click on “disability”. For more information on Joyce A. Bender and her companies, Bender Consulting Services, Inc. and Bender Consulting Services of Canada, Inc., visit, www. benderconsult. com or www. benderofcanada. com. To learn more about Voice America, contact www. voiceamerica. com.
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