At a plenary meeting of TCI Asia, in Bali, Indonesia (27-29 August 2018), the “Bali Declaration” was adopted. At this meeting, TCI Asia also became rechristened as “TCI Asia Pacific”, with greater participation of persons with psychosocial disabilities from the Pacific region.
The Bali plenary meeting objectives had thematic, participatory learning sessions, mixed with a proposed advocacy outcome (“The Bali Declaration”). The plenary invitation call from TCI Asia Pacific had an unprecedented response, with inquiries from several new countries. The Convenor’s office also proactively contacted cross disability DPOs in so many countries, several of whom were enthusiastic about participation. The initial program was conceived of in a Steering Committee meeting Zoom call, wherein, the predominant sentiment of the SC members was that the plenary should focus on Inclusion in Development. Based on this feedback, the schedule covered many development themes, the status of our inclusion and specific requests for future change. Thematic areas included Housing, social protection, public financing, gender, support systems, peer support, comprehensive health care, expanding choice in recovery, etc.). The plenary sessions covered topics, key messaging the sessions’ learnings to the participants. The Bali Declaration, was negotiated in the final plenary, the text negotiated with all the participants, finalized and agreed upon. Later, post Bali, the Convenor’s office took up editing of the text, finalizing it, seeking endorsement from different organizations in AP region, and releasing it into the public.