Newsletter Highlights
Advocacy at United Nations
- VOSAP selected to present in-person statement at The 15th annual Conference of States Parties on disability (CRPD) at United Nations, New York.
Youth Program:
- Launch of VOSAP Research Internship: VRI 2022 was launched on June 1st with students from the US, Nigeria and Bahrain.
Enablement with Assistive Devices
- Pune : 75 Visually Impaired beneficiaries received Smartcane
- Basti: 90 Specially Abled beneficiaries received Smartphone, Sewing Machine
- KIBO App: 40 Visually Impaired received Kibo App (3 year subscription)
Advocacy with Universities:
- Amity University: VOSAP Founder spoke as Guest of Honor at Amity University’s launch of International Literature Festival
- Abdul Kalam Technical University: VOSAP team met Vice Chancellor and team to promote AT Hackathon
Launch of Assistive Technology Hackathon
- Launch of International AT Hackathon in collaboration with L D College of engineering (India) by Chief Minister of Gujarat state, Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel.
Other Activities:
- International Yoga Day Celebration at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh with participation of over 150+ SAP
Dear Friends,
We are pleased to share VOSAP impact with Advocacy and Enablement in June 2022.
1. VOSAP Statement at United Nations.
Voice of SAP team was selected to present the statement in person at the 15th annual Conference of States Parties to the CRPD (COSP15) at United Nations, New York.
Sparsh Shah, VOSAP Youth Ambassador and Iris Wu, VP, VOSAP Club, UC Berkeley went to UN to present the 3 minute statement this year during 3 Days Annual Conference attended by 180 Countries on the theme of ‘Innovation and technology advancing disability rights’.
VOSAP statement was on how Assistive Tech and VOSAP Digital Tools are helping achieve inclusion and empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. Detail statment available here.
Voice of SAP launched International Assistive Technology (AT) Hackathon in collaboration of LD College of Engineering, India.
Hon. Chief Minister of Gujarat Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel launched this AT Hackathon on June 20,2022 for young innovators to help solve problems in disability sector.
VOSAP is committed to transform disability sector with application of technology solutions. AT Hackathon is the initiative to promote innovation and encourage youth participation across academia to come up with affordable Solutions to assist Specially Abled People.
To Participate Register at: www.voiceofsap.org/athackathon/
NFBM, Pune: VOSAP helped 75 Visually Impaired Girls from different parts of Maharashtra with Smartcanes at Inspiration 2022, Conference by National Federation of the Blind Maharashtra, Pune. Mr. Timotheus Felder-Roussety, German Social Counsellor, joined the event as Chief Guest and Ms. Sobhana Jaya-Madhavan, AVP, external relations, Simon-Fraser University, Canada as a keynote speaker.
Basti, Uttarpradesh: 90 SAP in Basti, Uttar Pradesh, India were enabled on June 26, 2022. Visually Impaired and hearing impaired – Student of 2 rural schools received Smartphones and Hearing impaired adults received Sewing Machines. VOSAP Volunteers Dr Uttam Ojha ji, Akhil Chaubey and Mohit Gaur from Varanasi also joined the event in person and managed the event.
KIBO App: Voice of SAP enabled 40 Visually Impaired People with Kibo App by Trestle Labs (Exhibitor at VOSAP AT Exhibition). KIBO App is a comprehensive content accessibility and OCR app for blind & low-vision people. It helps listen to any printed, handwritten or digital content,translate them to the language of choice or download them in editable formats. It supports 60+ international languages and 11 file-formats.
4. VOSAP Collegiate: Launch of VOSAP Research Internship VRI 2022
Following the successful run of VRI2020, VRI2021, VOSAP launched VRI 2022 on June 1. This incredible opportunity gives students of Public Policy, Technology, STEM, Journalism – the ability to conduct impactful research while simultaneously obtaining skills lucrative and applicable to any career pathway.
So far 25+ Research Projects with 100+Students and 20+Universities in USA are completed. For VRI 2022, The interns from US, Bahrain and Nigeria will be engaging in 3 months extensive Research on Employment in Disability Sector and Impact of Rehabilitation Programs.
Learn more about VRI 2022 at https://www.voiceofsap.org/vri2022/
5. Advocacy with Universities:
Amity University: VOSAP Founder Pranav Desai was invited as Guest Speaker at Amity University’s AILF 3.0 (Amity International Literature Festival). Amity University has 175,000 students including 13 campuses outside India.
Various dignitaries and experts from across the world like Japan, Ireland Macao were also present at the inauguration event. Mr.Desai addressed the panel for the Youth Engagement Programs of Voice of SAP, how compassionate VOSAP Youth is empowered with VOSAP digital tools and activities from Volunteering to Data Driven Research, promoting inclusion of SAPs with various Universities through VOSAP Club and presenting at United Nations.
He also suggested that as part of Literature Festival Essay/Poetry Competition, promoting the inclusion of Specially Abled People can sensitize the youth and give them a chance to think towards Disability. VOSAP digital platform for Essay Competition can help achieve such goals,
AKTU: Abdul Kalam Technical University VOSAP Founder and Team had a Meeting with Vice Chancellor and Faculties of AKTU to promote volunteering, AT Hackathon and engagement among 300,000 students, engineers at AKTU with VOSAP.VOSAP and AKTU discussed to work closely to cover 800 colleges in Uttar Pradesh state, signi the MoU and have now weekly team calls to take this forward.
6. VOSAP celebrated International Yoga Day on June 21
During The International Day of Yoga on 21st June, VOSAP Banaras team Celebrated ‘Yoga for Humanity’.
Over 150 people including SAPs performed Yoga to mark International Day of Yoga 2022 in Banaras.
7. Important Dates in July
July 26: Americans with Disabilities Act, (ADA) Anniversary
July: Disability Pride Month
Upcoming Mass Enablement Events in Lucknow (UP), Botad (Gujarat)
