Autism Awareness Campaign UK welcomes UN World Autism Awareness Day
LONDON, (RUSHPRNEWS) 04/03/2008- The Autism Awareness Campaign UK welcomed the first ever United Nations World Autism Awareness Day on Wednesday 2nd April. WAAD was declared by the United Nations General Assembly on the recommendation of the State of Qatar.
Events organised by parents groups and autism organisations around the world were held yesterday to mark WAAD.
In the UK, Media Eye Productions released a film on You Tube to mark the United Nations World Autism Awareness Dy. Leading peer in the House of Lords in the Palace of Westminster, Baroness Uddin was in conversation about World Autism Awareness Day with Ivan Corea, head of the Autism Awareness Campaign UK. Both campaigners congratulated the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned, the Consort of His Highness the Emir of Qatar, for providing leadership and spearheading World Autism Awareness Day. There was a global focus on autism on 2nd April.
The Autism Awareness Campaign UK has urged UNSG Ban Ki-moon to launch a world autism strategy, convene a United Nations Conference on autism in 2009 and connect with world leaders on autism and Asperger’s Syndrome and for UN agencies such as UNICEF and the UNDP together with Britain’s DFID to reach out to the poor in the Third World – there are many families with autism in countries in Africa and Asia who are below the poverty line who have virtually no access to education, health, specialist speech therapy and respite care.
In the United Kingdom, Ivan Corea of the Autism Awareness Campaiagn asked Prime Minister Gordon Brown to launch a national strategy on autism and a 10 year plan of action on autism and Asperger’s Syndrome.
A moving song for autism about a child with the condition, ‘Open Every Door’ was launched in London to mark the United Nations World Autism Awareness Day. The Autism Song was composed by the award winning singer/songwriter Nimal Mendis who lives in Britain and sung by the South Asian superstar Gresha Schuilling. ‘Open Every Door’ has been released by Media Eye Music in London.
The Autism Awareness Campaign UK is calling for action on autism and Asperger’s Syndrome following the historic World Autism Awareness Day launched by the United Nations.
To view the youtube film with Baroness Uddin and Ivan Corea to mark the first United Nations World Autism Awareness Day, please see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnrFTsWR3TU
