Welcome to the United Nations
World Autism Awareness Day was designated by the General Assembly resolution 62/139 adopted in 2007. The Day raises awareness of autism on all levels of society and encourages participation of Member States, civil society, private and public organizations and the UN system. The theme of this year's Day is "Opening Doors to Inclusive Education", which will be commemorated on April 2 at United Nations Headquarters.
A "Meet the Author" (sponsored by DPI) of Drawing Autism (Jill Mullin) will start the Day at the North Lobby of the Secretariat Building (12-1pm). After that, a film screening (sponsored by the Permanent Missions of Italy and Argentina) of the documentary Ocho pasos adelante (e. Eight Steps Forward) will commence (1-3pm) at the ECOSOC Chamber, which will be followed by a Q&A. The film's director (Selene Colombo), the Permanent Representatives of Italy (H.E. Mr. Sebastiano Cardi) and Argentina (H.E. Ms. María Cristina Perceval) as well as the Under Secretary-General of DPI (Mr. Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal) and the Director of the Division for Social Policy and Development, DESA (Ms. Daniela Bas) will be present. A keynote address by Mr. Ron Suskind, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and senior fellow at Harvard University on his book Living Animated will proceed two panel discussions on "Legal Instruments" and "Inclusion in Practice" that are scheduled for 3-6pm in the ECOSOC Chamber.
For more information, please click here.