Blind Advocate Urges Treaty Ratification
January 14, 2015
Maryanne Diamond is waiting for a revolution.
Since Ms. Diamond’s birth in Australia during the 1950s, technological advancements have fundamentally reshaped how most people create, disseminate and access information.
But for Ms. Diamond, whose parents discovered she was blind at six weeks old, the information revolution has yet to transform the lives of hundreds of millions of visually impaired people living around the world, particularly in poorer regions. Ms. Diamond hopes that change is on the way.
In December 2014, she took the stage in Geneva to urge the ratification of the new Marrakesh Treaty, designed to facilitate access to books for blind people. In front of hundreds of people gathered for a TEDx event in the historic Palais des Nations, the United Nations’ European headquarters, Ms. Diamond had one message.
“Information is power. We use information to make choices in life and we use information to make decisions about our lives. We blind and print-disabled people around the world are anxiously waiting to have our lives transformed,” she said. “I urge all governments to ratify and implement the Marrakesh Treaty as a matter of urgency.”
Books, braille, accessible formats
In the beginning, books were not a priority for Ms. Diamond, a mathematician by training. Books in braille were heavy to lift, and sparse on library shelves. Even now, only a small minority of printed texts is available in formats accessible to people living with visual impairments – this is what activists call a ‘book famine.’
Throughout a long professional career, during a lengthy period living in a foreign country with young kids, the story was the same: A persistent lack of textbooks, travel books and city guides. “I found myself reliant on others for information,” says Ms. Diamond.
implement the Marrakesh Treaty as a
matter of urgency."
That is why Ms. Diamond turned to advocacy, eventually rising to head the World Blind Union, a group with head offices in Canada that promote the interests of visually impaired persons.
The World Blind Union, and Ms. Diamond personally, have been instrumental in the creation, promotion and passage of the “Marrakesh Treaty,” known by some as the “books for the blind” treaty.
Marrakesh Treaty, Stevie Wonder
After years of effort, scores of WIPO member states in June 2013 adopted the treaty at the end of a high-level negotiating conference hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco in Marrakesh. Negotiators exhausted from years of talks, capped by a 10-day marathon negotiating session in Marrakesh, celebrated late into the desert night, dancing to a special performance by recording legend Stevie Wonder, who had promised to fly to Morocco for a treaty adoption.
The treaty aims to facilitate the creation and dissemination across borders of texts specially adapted to meet the needs of people with visual impairments. According to the World Health Organization, there are more than 285 million visually impaired persons worldwide, 90 percent of whom live in developing countries.
The benefits of the Marrakesh Treaty will truly take effect when it is ratified by 20 countries. Only a handful have done so; India was the first in mid-2014.
Already, efforts are ramping up for treaty implementation. Ms. Diamond cited the Accessible Book Consortium, which is launching practical initiatives to increase the availability of books in accessible formats. The ABC’s activities include capacity building, support for “born accessible” publishing technologies and standards, and a database easing the international search for texts in accessible formats.
So even after years of effort, Ms. Diamond’s work is only beginning. “The adoption of the treaty is not the end, just the end of the first stage. Huge work is still to be done before we can say we have solved what is known as the book famine,” she told the TEDx audience.