Introduction

Different countries in the world are committed to building public Assistive Technology providing systems that cater for the right to access appropriate assistive technology for the participation and inclusion of citizens with functional difficulties of all ages. International multilateral organisations such as WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank, UNESCO, ITU,and other organisations, such as ATScale, GDIHub, and others, are fully engaged in supporting those countries. Their initiatives are diverse, ranging from research, assessment of the state of the art, tool development, training, policy development, mediated procurement, direct grant funding, etc.

In this session we welcome contributions that have empirically assessed the outcomes and impact of those initiatives, basically to understand what works well and how promising efforts could be further improved. Both donor organisations, and their partners in the countries involved, are invited to submit contributions to the session, which will be completed with a policy session in the Inclusion forum where more extended discussions can take place.

The session is promoted by AAATE, in collaboration with GAATO.

Invitation for contributions

In the Special Thematic Session Building AT capacity in non-high-income countries we welcome presentations addressing issues related to initiatives aiming at supporting countries in building AT capacity.

Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Studies into the assessment of needs, or requirement of AT providing systems
• Studies reporting on the application (or applicability) of theoretical frameworks for AT capacity building
• Assessments of results of programmes, of any kind, that aim at increasing access to AT for citizens with disabilities
• Suggested intervention models and their functioning

Chairs

Evert-Jan Hoogerwerf, AAATE (Austria) & GAATO, hoogerwerf@aaate.net

Tone Øderud, AAATE & SINTEF, Tone.Oderud@sintef.no