A recently published White Paper by the U.S. International Council on Disabilities (USICD) on Stakeholders’ Understanding and Monitoring of the Implementation of CRPD Article 32, provides important recommendations to better hold international agencies and States accountable to making international cooperation initiatives and programs both inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities.
Article 32 of the CRPD is of great significance to all stakeholders who are in pursuit of fully inclusive and accessible international aid and humanitarian assistance projects. These actors include disabled persons organizations (DPOs), their allied NGOs, donor agencies and recipient countries of development and humanitarian aid alike. The White Paper released by USICD highlights the urgent need for the provision of increased training for various stakeholders’ understanding of Article 32. This includes improving stakeholders’ understanding of the differences in planning and reporting on projects that have a specific focus on people with disabilities as the primary beneficiaries, as compared to “mainstream” programs that may not take explicit and identifiable actions to be disability inclusive.
The significance of CRPD Article 32 cannot be overstated. If international actors do not take proactive measures to make their development and aid projects both accessible and inclusive, even higher discriminatory barriers can be either inadvertently or intentionally created for people with disabilities.
The White Paper in its entirety can be downloaded at the link below in English, or by visiting USICD’s website: http://www.usicd.org/