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This report highlights existing key evidence on the relationship between disability and HIV. It discusses the concrete steps needed for a person-centred, disability-inclusive HIV response that allows for increased participation of people with disabilities and integrates rehabilitation within the continuum of HIV care.

This volume of the African Disability Rights Yearbook is divided into four sections presenting articles, country reports, commentaries on regional developments and a book review. The first section A of the journal presents a number of articles on issues affecting people with disabilities in Africa, ranging from education and rights of children with disabilities to albinism. Section B presents country reports on Djibouti and Madagascar. Section C presents two articles: one on mental health and the other on disability rights developments in the East African Community post-2012. Finally a review of E. Barnes’s 2016 book "The minority body: A theory of disability" is given.

Activities to promote the access of deafblind women and girls to sexual and reproductive health are reported via brief descriptions of what happened, what changed and what worked. Activites included: training the deafblind women in their rights;training relatives of deafblind women, giving advice on general care, as well as highlighting the importance of supporting their sexual and reproductive health choices and promoting family planning; tackling the issue of the forced sterilization; awareness raising via newspapers and radio and improving livelihoods.

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

Purpose: The aim of this study was to review peer-reviewed literature on the roles and functions of Disabled Peoples’ Organisations (DPOs) in low and middle-income countries, and their outputs and outcomes for people with disabilities.

Method: Online databases were searched without date or language limiters (Medline, CINAHL, Scopus, Embase and Cochrane), using a combination of two key word search strategies. Eleven studies were selected for inclusion in this review on the basis of predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Included studies underwent quality assessment using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) and Downs and Black’s criteria for quality assessment. Data for thematic analysis was then grouped under the broad themes of: participation and factors that facilitate participation; development of partnerships and connections; and self-development and self-help.

Results: There was some evidence within the included studies to suggest that DPOs can produce significant, positive outcomes for persons with disability in terms of factors such as employment rates, access to microfinance and bank loans, accessibility of housing, acquisition of orthopaedic devices, involvement in civil society, development of friendships and networks, and participation in training programmes. Although the studies under review largely did not investigate the long-term impact of the reported DPO functions and outputs, some of the short-term outputs may be considered proximal indicators of outcomes such as increased empowerment and wellbeing.

Conclusion: The 11 studies in this review suggested that DPOs can be effective in achieving their stated aims of promoting wellbeing, participation and rights of people with disabilities in low and middle- income countries.

What is this document?

This document provides a guidance on the importance of consulting with children with disabilities. It provides practical suggestions for consulting with children and young people with disabilities in a variety of situations. It aims to equip individuals working on child rights with the knowledge and skills necessary to communicate with children with a variety of disabilities.

This document sets out tips and suggestions for the entire consultation process including: planning for the consultation, general considerations for consulting with children with disabilities, specific tips for communicating with children with different types of impairments, and some case study examples. 

Who is this document for?

This document is a guide for Plan and partner staff on how to work with children to ensure that children with disabilities are consulted with and heard in Plan programmes. This could include:

• Field staff

• Researchers and consultants

• Community leaders and members

• Government officials

• Facilitators and trainers

• School teachers

• Plan National Office and Country Office staff

These guidelines can be used in all contexts including at a national policy level, in communities, during development projects and in humanitarian settings.

This report, produced by the University of Sydney’s Centre for Disability Research and Policy (CDRP),
uses data collected in rounds four and five of UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys programme (MICS) to describe the wellbeing of young children with and without developmental delay in six Asian countries. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) were used as a framework for identifying indicators of child wellbeing.

The report, authored by CDRP Disability and Inequity Stream Leader Professor Eric Emerson with Dr Amber Savage of the Family and Disability Studies Initiative, University of Alberta, Canada and CDRP Director Professor Gwynnyth Llewellyn, found that children with Developmental Delay in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Laos, Nepal, Pakistan and Vietnam are more likely than their peers to:
• Be living in poverty (SDG1). In five out the six countries children with developmental delay were more likely to be living in poverty than their peers
• Experience hunger (SDG2). In all six countries children with developmental delay were more likely to have experienced persistent severe hunger than their peers
• Suffer poor health (SDG3). On three indicators (poor peer relationships, diarrhoea and fever) children with developmental delay were more likely to have poor health than their peers. On three indicators (obesity, aggression and acute respiratory infections) there was no systematic difference between children with and without developmental delay.
• Experience barriers to quality education (SDG4). On all four indicators (attendance at early childhood education centre, family support for learning, access to learning materials in the home, maternal level of education) children with developmental delay were more disadvantaged than their peers.
• Experience barriers to clean water and sanitation (SDG6). On two indicators (improved sanitation, place to wash hands) children with developmental delay were more disadvantaged than their peers. On one indicator (improved drinking water) there was no systematic difference between children with and without developmental delay.

The authors noted that “Since the development of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1998, increased attention has been paid to monitoring the well-being of children. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and UNCRC both contain explicit provisions regarding the rights of children with disabilities. These impose obligations on governments to act to ensure that children with disabilities enjoy the same rights and opportunities as other children. In order to promote the visibility of children with disabilities, enable better policy, and monitor progress, disaggregation of data related to children’s well-being on the basis of disability is needed."

This page was set-up on UNDESA webpage to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Convention. It adresses the following issues:

- Background
- Events to commemorate CRPD+10 around the world
- Highlights of the 10 years since the adoption of the CRPD
- Main CRPD page
- CRPD 10 Anniversary Note (UN CRPD Secretariat, DSPD/DESA)
- Celebrating 10 Years of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (OHCHR)
- Call for submissions on inclusive development for persons with disabilities and the realization of their human rights

"It is time to move from law to practice in the implementation of the rights of persons with disabilities

GENEVA (13 December 2016) – A United Nations human rights expert has urged States to redouble their efforts to end the marginalization of persons with disabilities, in a statement marking the anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Catalina Devandas Aguilar, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, said much work remained to be tackled, 10 years after the Convention was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 13 December 2006"