All Commitments made by Australian Government: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

New Programmes and Services

1. The All Children Reading (ACR): A Grand Challenge for Development (GCD) partners (USAID, World Vision, and the Australian Government) commit to sourcing technology-based solutions to help children learn to read that are inclusive of learners with disabilities and commit to engaging additional partners in these endeavours to expand our impact. Timeframe and/or implementation plan: The partners will source these solutions through a global competition model during 2019-2020 by engaging with Disabled Persons’ Organizations (DPOs), applying lessons learned and best practices from previous ACR GCD activities, as well as through guiding principles that ensure our approach is inclusive.
2. Australia will fund the World Health Organization’s Western Pacific Regional Office to conduct a feasibility study into a regional approach to the procurement and distribution of assistive technologies and devices in the Pacific. The study will identify options to overcome the geographic and fiscal barriers to accessing affordable assistive devices in the Pacific. Timeframe and/or implementation plan: The feasibility study will be completed by July 2019.  Further investment will then be sought to implement agreed recommendations.

Adopt the voluntary OECD-DAC disability marker
Australia is a strong advocate for the introduction of a policy marker to track disability inclusion in aid development and will adopt the voluntary OECD-DAC marker once established by the DAC.

Commit resources to support strengthened disability data
Australia will continue to support stronger and more robust disability data by supporting the global use of the Washington Group Questions. These data tools are an efficient way to disaggregate data by disability for the purposes of monitoring implementation of the UN CRPD and SDGs, particularly within low resource environments.

Timeframe and/or implementation plan: Australia will work with stakeholders including UNICEF, ILO, World Bank, the Washington Group and University College London to develop a plan by the end of 2018 for further strengthening the global use of the Washington Group Questions.

Australia will provide $16.4 million over three years to support disability inclusive humanitarian action in response to the Syria crisis. These initiatives include explosive hazard mitigation and victim assistance in Syria, and livelihoods opportunities and access to education in Jordan and Lebanon. Activities comprise tailored initiatives to address the needs of people with disabilities as well as support for the mainstreaming of inclusive approaches throughout Australia’s response.

Timeframe and/or implementation plan: Australia is supporting disability-inclusive initiatives under the $220 million, three year Syria Crisis Humanitarian and Resilience Package (2016-2019). These initiatives consist of support to the UN Mine Action Service ($8 million), Humanity and Inclusion ($4.3 million) and ZOA ($4.1 million), which will continue over the next two years.

Australia will invest in building the capacity of DFAT staff to deliver a more disability-inclusive aid program. Through a renewed partnership with CBM Australia and the Nossal Institute for Global Health, DFAT will make available readily accessible technical assistance and research to support Australia’s development investments to be disability-inclusive. DFAT will also share its expertise through the Global Action on Disability (GLAD) Network to foster greater collaboration and learning on disability-inclusion.

Policy, legislation and its implementation
Australia will fund the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to conduct a baseline review of disability practices within the United Nations. Her review will support an evidence-based approach by the Inter-Agency Support Group for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (IASG) to prepare a new United Nations policy to strengthen disability-inclusion across the operations of the United Nations.

Timeframe and/or implementation plan
The Special Rapporteur will complete her review in 2018. The Secretary General has asked the IASG to finalise the new UN policy in the first quarter of 2019. 

Representation and empowerment of persons with disabilities
Australia will fund the ASEAN General Network for Disability Access (AGENDA) to support the development and finalisation of the ASEAN Master Plan for an Inclusive Community by 2025: Mainstreaming Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This will enable the Master Plan and associated work by the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and ASEAN nations to be informed and driven by the coalition of national and regional DPOs which comprises AGENDA.

Timeframe and/or implementation plan
Australian support will enable AGENDA and DPOs to provide technical assistance and engage with the ASEAN Masterplan Taskforce. The Masterplan is expected to be adopted at the ASEAN Summit in November 2018, followed by its official launch at the AICHR Regional Dialogue in December 2018.

Stereotypes, attitudes and behaviours
Australia will fund the Pacific Disability Forum to design a situational analysis of the experiences of Deaf people in the Pacific. When completed, the analysis will establish an evidence base to inform policy and address the exclusion, isolation and barriers Deaf and Hard of Hearing people face in the Pacific. It will also assist Pacific Island countries to meet their commitments under the Pacific Framework for the Rights of People with Disabilities.

Timeframe and/or implementation plan
The design of the situational analysis will be completed in 2018 in consultation with the Deaf community in the Pacific and key stakeholders including relevant ministries of National Governments. The situational analysis itself will require broader support from a coalition of stakeholders and could take up to two years to complete depending on the number of Pacific Island countries to be included.

Representation and empowerment of persons with disabilities
Australia will support the formal participation of persons with disabilities in UN processes and other international events and mechanisms such as the Global Disability Summit and the Global Action on Disability (GLAD) Network.

Timeframe and/or implementation plan
Australia will fund the participation of twelve representatives of Disabled Peoples Organisations (DPOs) from the Indo-Pacific at the Global Disability Summit. Through its partnership with the International Disability Alliance Australia will fund the participation of DPOs at the 2019 GLAD Network Meeting and the 12th Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).