Atlas-ID project brings home the Prix Rayonnement international

MONTREAL , Nov. 19 /CNW Telbec/ - The Atlas on Global Resources for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities 2007 (Atlas-ID), a project led by three Montreal readaptation centres for the World Health Organisation (WHO), has been honoured for its international impact and influence by the Institut d'administration publique du Québec.

Yesterday evening, the Institut d'administration publique du Québec awarded its Prix Rayonnement international to the Atlas-ID project, the first-ever report to provide data on world-wide resources and services available to people with intellectual disabilities.

The project was jointly led by West Montreal Readaptation Centre, Centre de réadaptation Lisette-Dupras, CRDI Gabrielle-Major, the Montreal WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health at the Douglas University Institute in Mental Health and the WHO's Geneva-based Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

The Atlas-ID describes services and the global state of resources allocated to intellectual disability in 147 countries representing 95 percent of the world's population. It is a global and national awareness-building tool for intellectual disability, and offers a framework for actions to improve the quality of life for people with an intellectual disability and their families around the world.

The Atlas-ID is available in English and French, as well as in adapted English, French and Spanish.

Launched during the Second International Conference on Intellectual Disabilities held in Bangkok , Thailand , in 2007, this report was sent by the WHO to the health ministers of its 193 member countries and 11 associate member countries.

The Prix Rayonnement international is open to all sectors of Quebec's public administration (public service, education and municipal networks, health and social services) and is awarded to an administrative unit that has realized a project conferring international influence on the organization. It aims to recognize projects that enhance Quebec's international practice and culture.

The winners of the IAPQ's Prix Rayonnement international 2009 would like to congratulate the other two finalists in this category, the Sûreté du Québec and the École nationale de police du Québec for the creation of FRANCOPOL -Réseau international francophone de formation policière, as well as to Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec for its Portail Internet du Réseau francophone des bibliothèques nationales numériques.

For further information: Jocelin Lecomte LL.B., M.A., Acting Director of Research and Education, Centre de réadaptation Lisette-Dupras, CRDI Gabrielle-Major, West Montreal Readaptation Centre, [phone], [email protected]; Source: Catherine Labrèche, Communications Officer, Centre de réadaptation Lisette-Dupras, for all of the organizations who participated in this project; English translation by J. Scrimger, communications officer, West Montreal Readaptation Centre