EIFL.net has the floor.>> Thank you, Mr. Chair and good morning. So I’d like to talk briefly about the issue of exceptions for persons with other disabilities. We support exceptions and limitations for persons with other disabilities such as persons who are deaf. Deafness is described as an invisible disability because you can’t see it in the same way as someone who has a physical disability. But that doesn’t make life any easier for those who are affected. The major barrier for deaf people is trying to communicate like everyone else does. Because of this communication difficulty, deaf people tend to rely on technology such as subtitles and captioning for communication and information. Many delegations have rightly described the Marrakech Treaty and the access of access to information as a humanitarian issue. Yet the Copyright issues that occur in creating accessible format copies for deaf people, such as adding subtitles and captions to material, raise similar issues to those addressed in the Marrakech Treaty. So this is an issue of parity. And libraries such as university libraries and public libraries must be allowed to serve all of their users equally, everyone who walks through the door of the library.
And then in some countries like, for example, in Kurdistan (?), a special library serves both communities. So, for example, the republic library for blind and deaf people in Bishkek provides literature in the curing language to both communities. So I would just like to express our thanks and to acknowledge that we welcome the further work that’s been done in this area as outlined in the
scoping study.I mean one way to achieve a quick result might be, for example, if the committee would consider making a recommendation or an agreed principle to the general assemblies that the provisions of the Marrakech apply mutatis mutandis– to people with other disabilities.
And then finally I’d like to take the opportunity this morning to congratulate the government of Chile who has become the 17th country to ratify the Marrakech Treaty. So with three more ratifications, the treaty will enter into force. And that will be a great day for everybody. Thank you.