Newsletter from the IDA Secretariat, 05 February 2021

 IN THIS EDITION:

1. Highlights 
2. New Resources and Documents 
3. Key Activities and Developments Over The Past Few Months 
4. Upcoming Events and Activities 
5. Vacancies and Opportunities 

1. HIGHLIGHTS
New UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities: Professor Gerard Quinn appointed as the new UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities. Mr. Quinn is a Professor Emeritus in Law at the National University of Ireland, with a long career in public service. IDA warmly congratulates and welcomes Mr. Quinn, read more.

COSP: The 13th Conference of the State Parties (COSP) took place from 30 November to 4 December 2020, the majority of the session was held virtually. IDA Members were present throughout the proceedings including on panels, during the general debate, and co-chairing round tables. Please click here to find out more about 13th COSP.

Civil Society Forum: The CSF took place on 2 December 2020, where the Plenary Session was opened by IDA Board Chair Ana Lucia Arellano, and moderated by Vladimir Cuk. During this time, the Global Disability Summit formal handover was done between Minister Justin Tomlinson MP, Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work, Government of the United Kingdom and Minister Dag-Inge Ulstein, Minister of International Development, Government of Norway. The plenary was attended virtually by 208 persons. IDA coordinated 4 break-out sessions during the Civil Society Forum, which had a combined 500 participants attending. Click here to read more.

CRPD Elections 2020: On 30 November 2020, during COSP 13, elections for the CRPD Committee took place. 8 of the 18 members of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities were elected for the period 2021-2024. Importantly, gender parity was achieved, States Parties elected five women and three men. The International Disability Alliance commends the eight candidates elected, click here to read the full list of those elected.

COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations: IDA has published a set of recommendations to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are distributed equitably, advocating for persons with disabilities to be prioritized in accessing vaccinations. Click here to read the recommendations. Stay up-to-date on IDA’s COVID-19 response by visiting the dedicated webpage, click here.

IDA COVID-19 Survey Launch: The survey will collect a new layer of data and present evidence on the situation of persons with disabilities during the pandemic and the long-term impacts. This new survey was originally launched in December 2020 and will be open until February 2021. The survey is currently available in English, International Sign, Spanish, French, Arabic, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Serbian. Click here to take the survey!

2. NEW RESOURCES AND DOCUMENTS

Report Launch: On 2 December 2020 during the Plenary Session of COSP 13, IDA officially launched the report "Increasingly consulted, but not yet participating: IDA Global Survey Report on Participation of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities”. The report presents the findings of the first-ever global survey led by organisations of persons with disabilities on their participation in the decision-making processes of governments, the UN system and funding agencies. The IDA Global Survey is part of a strategy to hold decision-makers accountable for their commitments under Articles 4.3 and 32 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Based on testimonies collected from OPDs in 165 counties, the report assesses the quality, depth, scope and relevance of the OPDs participation in programmes and policies, and offers recommendations for governments, the UN system and funding agencies. Click here to download the full report.

Report Launch: Online launch of the report ‘Disability rights during the pandemic: A global report on findings of the COVID-19 Disability Rights Monitor’ was held on 22 October 2020. The report presents the findings from a rapid global survey of persons with disabilities and other stakeholders which took place between April and August 2020. The report analyses over 2,100 responses to the survey from 134 countries around the world. The vast majority of responses were from individuals with disabilities and their family members. Click here to read the full report.

Disability Data Advocacy Toolkit Launch: On 12 November 2020, the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities, the International Disability Alliance and CBM Global launched the Disability Data Advocacy Toolkit. The aim of this toolkit is to contribute to the growing global dialogue on the importance of data on persons with disabilities, specifically to provide some basic knowledge on data collection, analysis, and use of data for evidence-based advocacy.

Report Launch: In case you missed it, in June 2020IDA released its first global report on Inclusive Education. Titled "What an inclusive, equitable, quality education means to us – Report of the International Disability Alliance", it is the culmination of a two-year process of building a consensus and a cross-disability perspective from the disability rights movement on how the Sustainable Development Goal 4 on education can be achieved in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). Please click here to download the full report. The IDA report came at an opportune time when UNESCO released its Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report on inclusive education. Two regional reports produced in collaboration with regional partners deep dive into inclusion and education in Latin America and the Caribbean (November 2020) and Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (to be launched in February 2021).

The GEM 2020 Gender Report called "A New Generation: 25 Years of Efforts for Gender Equality in Education" was launched in October 2020. Building on the 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report, this report investigates how inclusion in education can advance gender equality in and through education, which is critical to make progress towards gender equality in society. Please click here to download the full report.

Online course: The International Disability Alliance and UNICEF in collaboration with the European Disability Forum developed an online course for Europe-based organisations of persons with disabilities on how to ensure that their work is inclusive of refugee, migrant and internally displaced children and youth with disabilities. The goal is that at the end of this course, participating OPDs will develop a feasible concrete action plan to start/enhance inclusion of refugee, migrant and/or internally displaced children and youth with disabilities in their work.

The online launch of OHCHR’s SDG-CRPD resource package: in December 2020, OHCHR launched an SDG-CRPD resource package which aims at facilitating the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals guided by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). In the framework of the EU funded project, “Bridging the Gap I: Human Rights indicators for the CRPD in support of a disability-inclusive 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, the resource was developed through a consultative process involving UN entities and experts, governments, NHRIs, National Statistics Offices, organizations of persons with disabilities and other civil society organizations, international cooperation agencies and others. Please click here for more information on OHCHR’s SDG-CRPD resource package.

3. KEY ACTIVITIES AND DEVELOPMENTS OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS

OCTOBER 2020

UN World Data Forum Side Event: On 21 October 2020, the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities, the International Disability Alliance, World Blind Union and CBM held the event “Persons with disabilities and COVID-19 data collection and disaggregation efforts” at the virtual World Data Forum. Over 400 participants attended the event highlighting the importance of data on the situation of persons with disabilities. Please click here for event recording.

Bridge CRPD-SDGs West Africa French Module 2: From 20 to 28 October 2020, the African Disability Forum (ADF), West African Federation of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (WAFOD), IDA and HI held the Module 2 of the Bridge West Africa French-speaking countries, in Cotonou, Benin. Module 1 for French-speaking Africa took place in November 2019 and was delayed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 situation. Seeing that the region was not as affected, the leadership of ADF and WAFOD organized Module 2 for the month of October 2020. Curriculum and preparation were remotely supported by the Bridge team.

Disability Inclusive Social Protection: The second webinar of the Disability Inclusive Social Protection Series "Addressing Disability-related Costs through Social Protection Systems" was held on 29 October. The series is organised by Australia DFAT in partnership with the ILO-UNICEF inclusive social protection initiative, click here to read more, supported by the UNPRPD COVID-19 joint program. The webinar presented the diversity of disability-related costs and the role of different methods used to assess them.

IDA Global Survey Report internal launch: “Increasingly consulted but not yet participating!” –discussing the findings and use of IDA Global Survey report on DPO participation in development programmes and policies was held on 8 October. This webinar brought together the IDA Board and Program Committee, IDA Secretariat colleagues and partners from Maynooth University to discuss the recently completed IDA Global Survey. Objectives of the webinar were to introduce and discuss the findings from the IDA Global Survey report in view of a final endorsement; to get guidance and recommendations from IDA members on the possible dissemination and use of the findings of the report and sharing information about the next steps and opportunities for engagement.

NOVEMBER 2020

Disability Inclusive Social Protection Response to COVID-19 Crisis: from 4 to 5 November 2020 in Niamey, Niger, the West Africa Federation of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (WAFOD), the African Disability Forum (ADF) and the International Disability Alliance (IDA) held the Regional Workshop in West Africa countries on Disability-Inclusive Social Protection Response to COVID-19 Crisis: a new path towards inclusion. DPOs from 11 African countries, mainly from West Africa came together to share their knowledge, skills, and expertise as well as to develop a common DPO-led understanding of social protection inclusive of persons with disabilities. Click here to read more.

Disability Inclusive Social Protection: The third webinar of the Disability Inclusive Social Protection Series "Disability identification, assessment, and determination in social protection systems: barriers to access and gateways to support" was held on 17 November. The idea around the webinar was to initiate a conversation on a practical framework for disability assessment and determination in line with CRPD standards and adapted to low- and middle-income country contexts.

SDG Reports from a CRPD Perspective: On 19 November, IDA organized a webinar on lessons learned from SDG report writing. The webinar was the opportunity to discuss the learnings from the first batch of SDG reports from a CRPD perspective; past and current SDG report processes, including the main challenges faced and the most successful elements; the use of reports for brokering relationships and advocacy purposes; the different types of reporting methods (for instance, legal and policy analyses) and the different ways information and data can be collected.

IDDC Roundtable: on 23 November, IDDC organized a roundtable "The Impact of COVID-19 and the state of disability rights worldwide". The scope of the roundtable was to provide an online space where IDDC members and IDA partners can discuss how COVID has affected their work and collaboration, to learn from the last 9 months and look to the year ahead, also to consider lessons from INGO and OPD collaboration e.g., on advocacy, and focus on solutions and recommendations.

Inclusion Works Webinar: On 24 November, Inclusion Works held a webinar called “Making it easier”: definitive guidance on the corporate best practice called ‘disability confidence’. There is a clear imperative to make it easier for employers to say “yes” to the best practice that benefits both the business and persons with disabilities seeking meaningful employment and careers. In connection the UK Aid supported Inclusion Works programme, of which IDA is a consortium member, has launched the first set of its Disability Confident Employer’s Tool Kit, click here to access.

Disability Inclusive Development: Through Inclusive Futures, and FDCO Learning Event was held titled, “Towards a disability-inclusive COVID-19 response and recovery: learning from practice”, which presented the COVID-19 Reaching People with Disabilities – Progress report to FDCO on the DID programme’s response profile. IDA continues to be a consortium partner on the DID programme, click here to read more.

EDF - Gender Violence: On 24 November and on the occasion of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 2020, European Disability Forum and Inclusion Europe organized a webinar named "Ending Violence Against Women and Girls with Disabilities in the European Union". EU actors and partners, including EU institutions, agencies and women’s organisations discussed how to work together to end violence against women and girls with disabilities. Click here to access the webinar.

IFHOH - Inclusive Education: On 30 November 2020, the International Federation of Hard of Hearing, hosted a webinar on inclusive education "Realities Facing Hard of Hearing Learners in Uganda and Nepal". During the webinar, the findings from an IFHOH Inclusive Education project conducted in Uganda and Nepal in the past year were shared. The rich data from the study’s 82 respondents revealed significant findings which were included in the final IFHOH report, click here to access.

GEM Report on Disability and Inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean: On 30 November 2020, the GEM Report and the International Disability Alliance (IDA) co-hosted a thematic webinar on disability and inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean. The webinar examined national efforts to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities and the barriers that need to be addressed to ensure that children with disabilities have access to the same quality education as their peers.

­­­­DECEMBER 2020

COSP 13 Side Events: During the Conference of States Parties 13th meeting, IDA and IDA Members supported or co-hosted 20 main side events. The following are just a few examples of these sessions.

• Collecting Data on Persons with Disabilities during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Opportunities, organized by UNICEF, CBM, Washington Group on Disability Statistics, IDA, SGPwD. This event discussed challenges and opportunities related to collecting, analyzing and using data on persons with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• A year after UNSC Resolution 2475: Defining concrete steps to protect people with disabilities in armed conflicts, organized by the Permanent Missions of Poland, Germany and Mexico to the UN, UNHCR, IDA and Human Rights Watch. The aim of this side event was to identify, address and overcome challenges of implementation and proposes concrete steps to be taken, in connection to the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy, and the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2475 committing to protect people with disabilities in armed conflict and ensuring they have equal access to humanitarian assistance.
• Independent Monitoring Mechanisms: How to Establish them Inclusively, within the scope of the UNPRPD Global Initiative on Supporting national implementation of the CRPD through strengthened independent monitoring mechanisms (IMMs) pursuant to Article 33 (2), organized by OHCHR, UNDP, UNPRPD, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) and IDA. IDA presented experiences of persons with disabilities and organizations of persons with disabilities in independent monitoring and involvement in IMMs.
• Amplifying the Voice and Spotlighting Visibility Experiences of women and girls with disabilities in COVID 19 response, and how to build back better for a more inclusive post-COVID-19 world, organized by Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations, World Bank, UNPRPD, UN Women, IDA. The aim of the event was to provide a platform for the voices of women with disabilities, to share experiences of good practices and facilitate a discussion on what we can do to unlock a vision of a better, more equitable, more inclusive and more just future.
• Listen, Include, Respect: The International Guidelines for Inclusive Participation, organized by DSi, II, Permanent Missions of Australia, Japan and the Republic of Poland to the United Nations, UNICEF and IDA. The objective of the side event was to provide a platform to share the challenges faced by people with intellectual disabilities to be included in the work of organisations, to introduce the work to develop the guidelines Listen, Include, Respect and to share the first findings from the global consultation that was held in order to develop the guidelines.
• The Recognition of Sign Languages in the Achievement of Deaf People's Human Rights, organized by WFD, The Nippon Foundation and IDA. The panel discussed the importance of sign language for deaf people and the consequences of its deprivation and how legal recognition of sign language can ensure the realisation of the human rights of the deaf people.

 Break-out sessions of the Civil Society Forum: 4 break-out sessions were coordinated by IDA during the CSF on 2 December 2020.

1. Living in Urgent Mode: How to safeguard disability rights achievements in the era of Covid-19, climate crisis and ongoing armed conflicts, attended by 76 participants.
2. The Future of Disability-Inclusive Development: Discussing the role of data and partnerships to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, organized by GLAD, and the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities for sustainable development.  Attended by 180 participants.
3. Leave No One Offline: Digital inequalities and addressing barriers to full participation and inclusion online. Attended by 131 participants.
4. CRPD Human Rights Advocacy: Key developments and emerging issues and challenges from the Human Rights Council and the WHO, CRPD and other treaty bodies, as well as structural issues (including the treaty body review process). Attended by 114 participants.

Study on COVID-19 impacts on OPDs: The first reference group meeting was held for the new study on the impact of COVID-19 on organizations of persons with disabilities. IDA, Sightsavers and other actors are contributing to this FCDO funded study through the Disability Inclusive Development Programme’s Helpdesk which is managed by SDDirect.

Inclusion International Global Self-Advocacy Summit: On 3 December, Inclusion International hosted an online summit for self-advocates. The goal of the summit was for self-advocates to share stories about their work, have time to meet and talk with one another, and also feel connected and part of a network.

Disability Inclusive Education Forum: Co-chaired by the Government of Norway and co-hosted by IDA, along with Education Cannot Wait, INEE, GCE, IDDC, and others the Disability Inclusive Education Forum: Reaching the Most Marginalized, was held on 4 December. This Forum explored progress made against previous global commitments and initiatives to educate people with disabilities, with a renewed focus on those furthest excluded. A related press release was published 10 December on the occasion of the Human Rights Day.

Bridge CRPD-SDGs Webinar Series: On 9 December IDDC / IDA organized the first webinar in the Bridge CRPD-SDGs Webinar Series called "Reintroduction of the Bridge for those not engaged or new to the process and drawing from the evaluation and recommendations". The purpose of the interactive webinars is to provide updates on the Bridge CRPD-SDGs training initiative in a bid to reach new audiences which will hopefully create opportunities for the next phase of Bridge.

RIADIS Ecuador workshops: two sessions were held in Ecuador, in Pastaza and Imbabura, in December 2020 organized by RIADIS with IDA support. The sessions focused on the rights of indigenous persons with disabilities and were attended by OPDs and indigenous persons with disabilities. 

Global Disability Summit (GDS) Consultations: During December 4 GDS consultations took place, 3 were national consultations in Nicaragua, Kenya, and Nepal (described further alongside the workshop descriptions below). A regional consultation was held in Senegal organized by the West Africa Federation of the Disabled (WAFOD) and the African Disability Forum (ADF). These consultations with OPDs are important parts of the GDS participatory process ahead of the summit in 2022, looking to ensure that the GDS agenda reflects the priorities and concerns of persons with disabilities from different parts of the world.

RIADIS Nicaragua workshop: in mid-December, a workshop was organized by RIADIS along with Federación de Mujeres con Capacidades Diferentes (FEMUCADI) to explore the situation of women with disabilities in the context of COVID-19. Included within this workshop was a national GDS consultation.

Kenya Workshop: in December a national workshop was held in Kenya organized by the United Disabled Persons of Kenya (UDPK), the Pan African Network of Persons with Psychosocial Disabilities and Inclusion Africa, with the support by ADF, WNUSP, and II. The workshop focused on the situation of persons with psychosocial disability and persons with intellectual disabilities. During this session, a GDS consultation also took place with these participants.

Nepal Workshops (indigenous): three workshops were held in December in Kathmandu, Nepal. The first workshop focused on the impacts of COVID-19 on indigenous persons with disabilities. The second workshop consisted of a GDS consultation, including reflection on the progress made by Nepal in the implementation of the Global Disability Summit 2018 commitments. The third workshop was dedicated to building capacity of indigenous youth and women with disabilities and preparation of 2nd World Conference on Indigenous Women in 2021. Events were organized by the National Indigenous Disabled Women Association Nepal (NIDWAN) in collaboration with the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and the Indigenous Person with Disabilities Global Network (IPWDGN).

JANUARY 2021

Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC): The 86th session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child is being held virtually between 18 January to 5 February 2021, however, the review of States Parties has been postponed.

Bridge CRPD-SDGs Webinar Series: two additional webinars were held in the series titled, "Reintroduction of the Bridge for those not engaged or new to the process and drawing from the evaluation and recommendations". The purpose of the interactive webinars is to provide updates on the Bridge CRPD-SDGs training initiative in a bid to reach new audiences which will hopefully create opportunities for the next phase of Bridge.

WFD: On 28 January WFD hosted a webinar on inclusive education which reached live views of 268 people. The webinar focused on how different actors could transition to quality and inclusive education for all deaf learners. Additional webinars will be hosted by WFD in the coming months to mark its 70th anniversary.

4. UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Due to the coronavirus crisis, many events are still postponed or being hosted virtually. The IDA Secretariat team is closely monitoring and cautiously reviewing the possibility to maintain events and will circulate information regularly.

FEBRUARY 2021

Workshop in Egypt: Arab Organization of Persons with Disabilities and IDA will organize a workshop in Egypt from 14 to 16 February 2021 on the situation of persons with disabilities at the COVID-19 era and a Global Disability Summit consultation.

Workshop in Cape Verde: World Blind Union and IDA will organize a workshop on SDG 3 (Access to Health) and the situation of persons who are blind, along with a consultation on Global Disability Summit, in Cape Verde on 15 February 2021.

Workshop in Angola: World Blind Union and IDA will organize a workshop on SDG 3 (Access to Health) and the situation of persons who are blind, along with a consultation for the Global Disability Summit, in Angola mid-February 2021.

Workshop in Uganda: African Disability Forum, Down Syndrome International, World Federation of Deafblind and IDA are organizing a workshop on the situation of persons with disabilities in the COVID-19 era, alongside the Global Disability Summit consultation in Uganda, planned for the end of February or early March 2021.

GLAD Network: The GLAD Network 2021 Annual General Meeting will be held virtually between 25-26 February. Click here to read more.

MARCH 2021

Launch of the IDA Global Survey: The second version of IDA’s Global Survey on OPD Participation in Development Policies and Programmes will be launched in March 2021.

Workshop in Bangladesh: Early March 2021, IDA along with ADD and Sightsavers will organize a CRPD-SDGs workshop, alongside the consultation for the Global Disability Summit in Bangladesh.

Workshops in Kenya: from 15 to 30 March 2021, IDA in cooperation with other members will organize a series of events in Nairobi, Kenya:

• Workshop with World Federation of the Deafblind and their members on the situation of persons who are deafblind in the COVID-19 time and preparation for the Second Global Report;
• Workshop with PANPPD and WNUSP on the situation of persons with psychosocial disabilities at the COVID-19 era;
• Workshop with UDPK and ADF on social protection for persons with disabilities - response to COVID-19
• Bridge CRPD-SDGs Module 1 Kenya together with UDPK
• Global Disability Summit consultation

National workshops with TCI Asia: in March 2021, TCI Asia and IDA will organize workshops on gender and COVID-19, as well as Global Disability Summit consultations in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Indonesia (still to be confirmed).

Workshop in Namibia: Mid-March 2021, the World Blind Union and IDA will organize a workshop on SDG 13 (Climate Action), alongside the Global Disability Summit consultation in Namibia.

Workshop in Zimbabwe: Mid-March 2021, the World Blind Union and IDA will organize a workshop on SDG 13 (Climate Action) alongside the Global Disability Summit consultation in Zimbabwe.

APRIL 2021

Workshops in Ethiopia – in early April 2021, IDA in cooperation with ADF and FEAPD to organize several events in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Bridge CRPD-SDGs Module 1, a workshop on gender advocacy, a workshop on CRPD advocacy and a Global Disability Summit consultation.

5. VACANCIES AND OPPORTUNITIES

The International Disability Alliance is currently recruiting for a number of full-time vacancies and consultancies. Learn more and apply through our careers page.