August 27, 2006 – After five years of negotiations, countries meeting at United Nations Headquarters in New York have agreed on a new treaty to protect the rights of persons with disabilities. Paragraphs G and H of Article 9 pushing for accessible ICT for PWDs were largely based on “Manila Declaration and Manila Recommendations on Accessible ICT”, two outcome documents passed by 13 countries in the UN-funded “Interregional Workshop on Accessible ICT” hosted by the Philippines and submitted to the UN in 2003.