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Toolkit for DPOs Voluntary National Reviews
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This toolkit was developed jointly by the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and CBM as an exploratory and interactive tool for organizations of persons with disabilities (DPOs) on the review and monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) implementation, at national, regional and global levels. The toolkit aims to provide step-by-step guidance, ideas, suggestions and templates for building successful advocacy campaigns and strategies to participate in the monitoring mechanisms of the Sustainable Development Goals. This toolkit will build on the monitoring process called the Voluntary National Review (VNR) that takes place at the global level linked with national and regional components
Towards inclusion. A guide for organisations and practitioners
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Inclusive development is about creating societies that value and enfranchise all marginalised groups. It is often not difficult to open up development projects to persons from these marginalised groups. But it does take time before organisations are willing and able to fully commit to inclusion.
Towards Inclusion aims to support organisations who wish to commit to an inclusive approach. It establishes the rationale for inclusion and provides technical advice and tools for putting theory into practice. It is intended to be used as a reference during organisational development, as well as a tool to support good practice in implementation.
If you are looking to support a (development) organisation in the process of becoming an inclusive organisation, then Towards Inclusion is for you
This guide consists of three parts. The first part guides the reader through the process of assessing whether or not the organization is ready to change towards becoming a more inclusive organization. The second part introduces the ACAP framework, which sets up a way of approaching inclusion via focus on the areas: Access, Communication, Attitude and Participation. It then demonstrates how the framework can be applied to projects and programmes. The third part provides guidelines for the people who will guide organizations through the process of change towards becoming inclusive of persons from marginalized groups
Disability Inclusive Development Good Practices: Level of Commitment to Core Concepts of Human Rights
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Aim: Good practices have been documented by International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) to promote disability inclusive development and encourage the replication or scaling up of good practices that use rights based approaches. This study aimed to investigate the extent to which Core Concepts of human rights are illustrated in disability inclusive development good practices related to health.
Methods: This study analysed case studies of disability inclusive development good practices focusing on health that are available in the public domain using EquiFrame, an established content analysis framework in benchmarking health and social policies.
Results: A total of 42 health related good practices were identified from 3 different INGOs working in the field of disability inclusive development. The highest occurring human rights Core Concepts were; access 55%, individualised services 48%, capacity building 45% and participation 38%. The Core Concepts with the lowest levels of commitment were; autonomy 3%, cultural responsiveness 3%, accountability 3%, and efficiency 3%. Privacy and autonomy were not mentioned at all. The quality of reporting of the core concepts of human rights was low as they did not state specific programme actions or intentions to monitor Core Concepts.
Conclusion: Level of commitment to Core Concept coverage and quality of reporting was low. EquiFrame was successfully extended to analyse disability inclusive development good practices focusing on health. Its use in further analysis of inclusive good practice is advised.
Implications: These results can be used for advocacy in disability inclusive development and to guide programme staff training and documentation of disability inclusive development good practices.
The 8 steps + : The role of community development organizations in providing holistic wheelchair services
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This report suggests a “twin-track” approach based on the World Health Organization’s Guidelines on the Provision of Manual Wheelchairs in Less Resourced Settings, an eight-step process, and dedicated disability inclusion programming, the “plus.” By following this 8 Steps+ approach, community development organizations can provide appropriate wheelchairs and empower their constituencies to exercise their rights and fundamental freedoms.
Supporting inclusive movements: Funding the rights of women with disabilities
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This brief explores funding at the intersection of women’s rights and disability rights and offers steps donors can take to ensure that their grantmaking is more inclusive of women with disabilities and to support this emerging movement. Background is provided by recent mapping by Women Enabled International about the state of advocacy by women with disabilities, the amount of funding in 2014, sample grants and example use of them. Tips from peer donors and women with disabilities are given.
Everywhere the bombing followed us. Forced displacement and the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. Perspectives of Syrian women refugees in Lebanon
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Based on a survey of 205 Syrian refugees in Lebanon and in-depth interviews with 14 Syrian women refugees originally from different towns and cities in Syria, and additional research, this study confirms that the use of explosive weapons in populated areas drives multiple forced displacements and induces a pattern of displacement that increases the vulnerability of civilians. Quantitative data collected during the survey confirms the correlation between multiple forced displacements and the use of the explosive weapons, as almost half of all respondents had been internally displaced prior to seeking external refuge in Lebanon, with an average of 3 internal displacements within their own city. The women interviewed highlighted the deprivation induced by forced displacement.
Human rights and disability: A manual for national human rights institutions
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(Updated Dec 2018)
This Manual is designed to provide practical guidance for national human rights institutions (NHRIs) that are actively working to advance the human rights of persons with disabilities, as well as those NHRIs that are seeking to strengthen their efforts in this area. This Manual provides practical guidance and recommendations about how the role and functions of NHRIs can be directed to provide better protection for persons with disabilities, to promote greater awareness and respect for their rights, and to monitor the progress made and obstacles encountered in advancing their rights.
There are three parts to the manual.
- Part I: The concepts - the human rights framing of disability
- Part II: The law - international human rights law and disability (CRPD and others)
- Part III: The practice - what NHRIs can do to contribute to the process of change
Advocacy Campaign for the Rights of People with Disabilities: A Participatory Action Research within a Community-based Rehabilitation Project in Vangani, Maharashtra
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Purpose: This paper aimed to demonstrate how participatory action research (PAR) within a Community-based Rehabilitation (CBR) project facilitated community participation to advocate for the rights of people with visual impairment. An advocacy campaign, led by the local people with and without disabilities, was launched for the construction of an accessible foot over- bridge (FOB) at Vangani railway station in Maharashtra, India.
Methods: The PAR approach was used to explore the issues faced by the local people with visual impairment. It ensured maximum community consultation, engagement and, consequently, meaningful outcomes for the community. Advocacy tools such as video documentary, online petition, media advocacy, and signature campaign were employed to publicise the issue on a larger platform. Sources for this paper included quantitative data from the survey of Vangani community and documents such as CBR project reports, media coverage articles, minutes of the meeting and correspondence with the Central Railways during the advocacy campaign that was conducted from 2012 - 2015.
Results: After 12 months of consistent advocacy, the Ministry of Railways sanctioned INR 15 million for the construction of the foot over-bridge. The construction work on the foot overbridge was completed in December 2016 and now it is open for public use..
Conclusion and Implications: This study illustrates how PAR within a CBR project successfully used an advocacy campaign as a tool for community participation, action and change. Although geographically limited to rural pockets of Maharashtra state, the learning experiences brought out some of the elements crucial for the success of an advocacy intervention within CBR programmes for the rights of people with disability in India.
Global report on the participation of organisations of persons with disabilities (DPOs) in VNR (voluntary national review) processes
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"This global report raises awareness for DPOs and how to engage with their governments in the national consultation processes on SDG implementation. This case study features the volunteering countries of Argentina, Bangladesh, Denmark, El Salvador, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Nigeria, Peru, Sweden and Togo.
The information summarised in the country chapters was derived from DPOs and partners working at the national level on SDG implementation and information may be subjective. The country chapters are structured to include; status of persons with disabilities, engagement in the voluntary national review process, thematic issues--poverty alleviation, healthcare, women with disabilities and accessibility—and analysis of the submitted VNR report
AccountABILITY toolkit: a guide to using UN human rights mechanisms to advance the rights of women and girls with disabilities
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This toolkit seeks to empower women with disabilities and organizations working on their behalf to make use of the available U.N. human rights mechanisms to ensure that the human rights violations women with disabilities experience receive redress and to make sure that statements, recommendations, observations, and guidance from the U.N. incorporate an intersectional gender and disability rights perspective.
Chapter 1 of this guide provides an introduction to the practice and procedures of the three main U.N. human rights mechanisms: treaty bodies, Special Procedures, and the Universal Periodic Review.
Chapter 2 identifies the ways in which civil society can engage with the U.N. human rights system. This section provides an overview of when and how civil society can provide necessary information to the U.N. human rights bodies and the advantages and challenges of different types of engagement.
Chapter 3 provides guidance on developing advocacy strategies for successful U.N. engagement, looking in greater detail at the type of information that civil society should be providing to the U.N. This section also discusses collaboration with other organizations and strategies (including media strategies) for implementing U.N. standards at the national level
Good practice report on inclusive education and employment for people with disabilities in Bangladesh
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This report is the output of a project titled “Advocating for Change for Persons with disabilities in South and South-east Asia” which was implemented by Handicap International for the period January 2013 – June 2014. In Bangladesh, the project supported Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) in 17 districts across the country, developing their capacity to advocate for rights of people with disabilities in education and employment. This report has been compiled to showcase good practices collected by DPOs and to promote practical recommendations, based on local evidence, on how to include people with disabilities in employment and education systems in Bangladesh. The Making it Work methodology was used as part of this project.
This report includes the 11 validated good practices including
- to ensure access of people with disabilities to waged employment n factories
- to ensure waged employment of people with disabilities though the Chamber of Commerce and Industries
- to ensure access to start up capital for people with disabilities
- to use local initiative to create educational opportunities for children with disabilities
- to ensure access of students with disabilities to secondary education through social mobilisation by school authorities
- to ensure access of children with disabilities to inclusive primary education
- to ensure physical accessibility for children with disabilities in high schools
- to ensure free of cost High School education for children with disabilities
SDGs, Inclusive Health and the path to Universal Health Coverage
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The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of goals designed to improve the social, economic and well-being of all, while maintaining global and environmental sustainability. Health is one of the 17 goals, and focuses not only on addressing morbidity and mortality, but also on improving access to healthcare services for all through Universal Health Coverage (UHC). While disability is not specifically mentioned in this goal, a focus on people with disabilities is important given the inclusive nature of the SDGs and the fact that people with disabilities make up the largest minority group in the world. This paper aims to critically consider what the health goal could mean for people with disabilities and advocates for inclusive health. It discusses the complex relationship between disability and health, and why people with disabilities are more vulnerable to poor health are discussed, and then considers factors that impact access to quality healthcare for people with disabilities and how these impact on the achievement of the targets in SDG Health Goal and the main principles of UHC. The paper argues that developing an inclusive approach to healthcare will not only improve achieving good health for all, but is also important since experiencing poor health may reduce quality of life and participation (e.g. in education, employment or community activities). Poor quality of life and participation can exacerbate disability, poverty and exclusion in addition to increasing suffering, morbidity and early mortality. The paper concludes that an inclusive UHC will not only fulfil the fundamental rights of people with disabilities to health and rehabilitation, as emphasized within the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, but also contribute to the achievement of the SDGs.
Disability & the Global South (DGS), 2017, Vol. 4 No. 1
The capacity of community-based participatory research in relation to disability and the SDGs
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The 2030 Agenda pledges to foster shared responsibility, recognizes all as crucial enablers of sustainable development, and calls for the mobilization of all available resources. It also commits to multi-stakeholder partnerships and pledges to be open, inclusive, participatory and transparent in its follow-up and review. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) equitably involves community members, organizational representatives and researchers, enabling them to share power and resources through drawing on the unique strengths that each partner brings. It aims to integrate any increased knowledge and understanding into action, policy and social change to improve the health and quality of life of community members. CBPR involves recruiting community or peer researchers, involving them in planning and offering them training to undertake interviews and observations in their context. They are also part of the analysis and dissemination process, and continue to work with local partners on advocacy plans and events after projects and research have finished. People with disabilities are actively part of the research process throughout. Drawing on relevant literature and current CBPR disability research in East and West Africa, this paper puts forward CBPR as a methodology that can enable community members to identify key barriers to achieving the SDGs, and inform how policy and programmes can be altered to best meet the needs of people with disabilities. It demonstrates CBPR in practice and discusses the successes and complexities of implementing this approach in relation to the SDGs. The paper also highlights findings such as the high level of support needed for community research teams as they collect data and formally disseminate it, the honest raw data from peer to peer interaction, a deep level of local ownership at advocacy level, emerging issues surrounding meaningfully involving community researchers in analysis, and power differentials. A key conclusion is that to join partners with diverse expertise requires much planning, diplomacy, and critical, reflexive thought, while emphasising the necessity of generating local ownership of findings and the translation of knowledge into a catalyst for disability-related policy change.
Disability & the Global South (DGS), 2017, Vol. 4 No. 1
Precarious lives and resistant possibilities: the labour of people with learning disabilities in times of austerity
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This paper draws on feminist and queer philosophers? discussions of precarity and employment, too often absent from disability studies, to explore the working lives of people with learning disabilities in England in a time of austerity. Recent policy shifts from welfare to work welcome more disabled people into the job market. The reality is that disabled people remain under-represented in labour statistics and are conspicuously absent in cultures of work. We live in neoliberal- able times where we all find ourselves precarious. But, people with learning disabilities experience high levels of uncertainty in every aspect of their lives, including work, relationships and community living. Our research reveals an important analytical finding: that when people with learning disabilities are supported in imaginative and novel ways they are able to work effectively and cohesively participate in their local communities (even in a time of cuts to welfare). We conclude by acknowledging that we are witnessing a global politics of precarity and austerity. Our urgent task is to redress the unequal spread of precaritization across our society that risks leaving people with learning disabilities experiencing disproportionately perilous lives. One of our key recommendations is that it makes no economic sense (never mind moral sense) to pull funding from organisations that support people with intellectual disabilities to work.
Accessibility for All: Good practices of accessibility in Asia and the Pacific to promote disability-inclusive development
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"This publication seeks to support policymakers in promoting accessibility at a policy and practical level. It contains information on relevant global and regional mandates that support and promote disability-inclusive development and accessibility, with a view to demonstrate the multi-faceted value of focusing on disability and accessibility policies to achieve broader development goals. Readers will learn about the core concepts of disability and accessibility, and be empowered with knowledge on standards, tools and means of promoting accessibility. Furthermore, this publication will outline and analyse examples of good practices of accessibility identified in Asia and the Pacific. The majority of the good practices featured in this publication were initially discussed at two international and multi-stakeholder workshops that took place in 2014 and 2015, with a few additional examples drawn from Pacific island member States. The selection of practices for this publication is based on their embodiment of the principles of accessibility, demonstrated success, measurable impact on the community, and their adaptable and replicable nature"
Global report: Self-Advocacy for inclusion
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Across the Inclusion International network, many individuals and organisations took part in workshops, surveys and interviews to report:
- what self-advocacy means to them
- what good support is
- how organisations can be more inclusive
- the vital role that families play in empowering self-advocacy.
This report provides a snapshot of work, and has some useful information for self-advocates, supporters, organisations and families. As well as containing the results from the global survey, interviews and workshops, this report also provides some useful guidance for anyone who wants to make the world more inclusive for people with intellectual disabilities.
A website (www.selfadvocacyportal.com) has been developed to share good practice and resources.
Attitudes of health service providers: the perspective of Persons with Disabilities in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana
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Introduction: Awareness of disability issues has gained considerable interest by advocacy groups in recent years. However, it is uncertain whether attitudes and perceptions of all service providers and society have adjusted accordingly towards the health care of people with disabilities. This study sought to examine the attitudes of health providers from the perspective of people with disabilities in the Kumasi Metropolis.
Methods: A cross-sectional study using semi-structured questionnaires was conducted with people with disabilities (with physical, hearing and visual impairments,) in the Kumasi Metropolis. The study used a multi-stage sampling involving cluster and simple random sampling to select 255 respondents split amongst the following five clusters of communities; Oforikrom, Subin, Asewase, Tafo and Asokwa. Data were analysed using STATA 14 and presented in descriptive and inferential statistics.
Results: The study found that 71% of the respondents faced some form of discrimination including the use of derogatory remarks, frustration and unavailable required services on the basis of their disability, the type of services they need and the location. Women were 3.89 times more likely to face discrimination; Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 3.89 (95% confidence interval [CI]; 1.41, 10.76), and visually impaired was more likely to be discriminated at the facility compared with physical disability; AOR = 5.05 (95% CI; 1.44, 17.65). However, respondents with some educational qualification and those who stayed with their family members were less likely to face discrimination; AOR = 0.08 (95% CI; 0.01, 0.39).
Conclusion: The study recommends the provision of in-service training for service providers to update their knowledge on disability issues and improve access to services for people with disabilities.
Development of a contextually appropriate, reliable and valid basic Wheelchair Service Provision Test
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Purpose:
Currently, there is no internationally accepted way to measure the competency of wheelchair service professionals. The International Society of Wheelchair Professionals aims to develop a Wheelchair Service Provision – Basic Test as a preliminary step towards establishing a certification process.
Method:
A team of wheelchair service provision experts developed test questions and conducted alpha and beta testing in order to validate them. Low-performing test items were eliminated. A pilot test was then conducted, which focused on developing a pass score, determining language barriers and validating the test as a measure of competency.
Results:
90 participants completed one of three versions of the Wheelchair Service Provision – Basic Test. A pass score of 70% was established and 135 questions were accepted for the final test. Analysis of variance indicated there was a difference in scores based on language (p = 0.001), but not based on experience level. This result motivated translation in to the United Nations’ official languages.
Conclusions:
The results indicate that the Wheelchair Service Provision – Basic Test is a valid method for measuring basic competency of wheelchair professionals. Additionally, researchers recommend a skills assessment to help to ensure only qualified wheelchair professionals receive the certificate.
Enabling a Global Human Rights Movement for Women and Girls with Disabilities: Global Disabled Women's Rights Advocacy Report
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WEI's Report is the first-ever report and map and it includes data, analysis and infographics of the leaders, venues, and locations where women's disability rights advocates and organizations are especially active, where the gaps are, and where there are opportunities for collaboration, and helps in achieving greater collective impact.
An overwhelmingly clear finding from the Report is that the growing number of disabled women and their organizations working for the rights of women and girls with disabilities is increasingly passionate, energetic and committed to this urgent effort. Furthermore, these women want to work collaboratively, share a desire to enhance their skills and demand their rights unequivocally. These findings form the basis for the development of enhanced mechanisms for collaboration and significantly increased funding for these organizations and this important work.
Through an online survey launched on August 18, 2015 and interviews conducted in January and February 2016, WEI produces this comprehensive mapping report of the field of advocates for the rights of women and girls with disabilities globally and nationally, released on March 8, 2016, International Women's Day.”
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