The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) was held in May, 2008. This Convention had the potential to become a catalyst for a paradigm shift in the way disability policy and practice is developed and implemented throughout the world. The UNCRPD was the culmination of a 30 year dialogue between the United Nations and civil society institutions (particularly disabled peoples organizations) about implementing a human rights agenda for disability issues. Furthermore, the UNCRPD was of historic importance because it was the first legally-binding international instrument enabling persons with disabilities, their representative organizations, and other civil society institutions working in the disability sector to hold signatory states accountable for the promotion and enforcement of disability rights, and the provision of legal redress mechanisms where these rights have been violated.
Leonard Cheshire Disability, in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, then hosted an international conference in May 2008 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in the immediate aftermath of the UNCRPD. The overall objective of this conference was to critically analyze the three key issues that underpinned the principles and tenets of the UNCRPD: poverty, discrimination, and lack of access. For each of these three core issues, keynote presentations were given by leading representatives from the disability movement, by senior officials from bilateral and multilateral donor agencies (for example, the UK Department for International Development and the World Bank), and by leading academics working in the field of disability and international development.
The five papers presented here in this special edition of Disability Studies Quarterly, all originally included at the Addis Ababa conference, have been selected because of their insights into some of the issues that the UNCRPD sought to address. These papers demonstrate the spectrum of discussions at the conference while also giving country-specific examples of issues and difficulties encountered in implementing the UNCRPD.
One of the key issues prominent in the Convention was the employment of persons with disabilities, as a catalyst towards poverty alleviation and empowerment. Two of the papers published here provide contrasting perspectives on the role of micro-finance as a means to break the negative cycle of poverty and disability. Dermot Foley's paper provides an analysis of the systemic institutional barriers that persons with disabilities encounter when applying for micro-finance from mainstream financial institutions in Bangladesh. By way of contrast, the paper by Roy Mersland demonstrates how micro-finance has been a catalyst in substantially improving the economic and social well-being of persons with disabilities in Uganda. This improvement in Uganda has been achieved through an ongoing dialogue and learning process between disabled people's organizations on the one hand, and mainstream financial institutions on the other. Together, these two papers serve as a reminder about making assumptions regarding the situation for persons with disabilities, and how inherently discriminatory practices are both intentionally and unintentionally replicated.
Pradeep Kumar's paper provides a case study of the difficulties encountered in implementing and enforcing a quota system for the employment of persons with disabilities in the South Indian State of Karnataka, despite the passage of the Persons with Disabilities Act 1995.
On an entirely different but equally important subject, Jennifer Simpson explores both the challenges and opportunities that information and communications technology provides with regard to the effective social inclusion of persons with disabilities within contemporary society. Simpson's paper draws on examples from the United States and looks at ICT in its broadest sense, encompassing a range of technologies. She explores if these technologies could be applied successfully in other parts of the world.
One of the most innovative initiatives that has been spearheaded by Leonard Cheshire Disability has been its Young Voices project. This project initially began by enabling young persons with disabilities from developing countries to participate in the negotiations of the Convention at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The Young Voices project has now progressed to a second phase, with the specific objectives of enabling young persons with disabilities to effectively lobby their respective governments to implement the UNCRPD and to raise the political profile of disability issues. In order to help them achieve their goals, 18 young persons with disabilities involved in the Young Voices project have been involved in a multi-media project, making short films about their lives. These young people brought a fresh and unique perspective to the proceedings of the conference, which proved to be invaluable. Four of the Young Voices — from Sierra Leone, India, Liberia and Sri Lanka — contributed to the article featured here, which says in their own words what the Convention means to them. Their presence at the conference was in itself potentially empowering, as it encouraged young persons with disabilities to be confident, and to speak out for themselves about the most important issues they face. It is hoped that in the future the Young Voices project will inspire the development of the next generation of leaders of the international disability movement.
The conference was attended by over 500 people from 58 countries, with very strong representation from members of the international disability movement. It was an enormous success, which can only be partially reflected by the papers here; as with all conferences, many of the best discussions were had in the lobby of the UN building, or over injera at the hotel. The conference concluded with a Call to Action, which urges Governments, donor agencies and all civil society institutions working in the disability sector to take positive steps to ensure that the UNCRPD is effectively implemented.
Further information about the conference (including downloads of presentations) can be found at http://www.lcint.org/?lid=4048
