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8.
Supporting inclusion: ratification and disability mainstreaming toolkits,
handbooks and guides
What practical steps can I take to mainstream disability in my work, community or country? What have other organizations already done? Has it been successful? How much did it cost and was it worth the money? Where can I get background material to develop my own ratification and mainstreaming strategies?
These are just a few of the questions that anyone working for the ratification and implementation of the UNCRPD might ask. Just before the conference closed, speakers in seven workshops explained how to use ratification and mainstreaming toolkits that have been developed by a wide range of organizations for a wide range of users.
Here, we offer information on how to get copies of these toolkits to use in your own programs. By sharing work that has already been done, we hope to support the work of all organizations joining the international efforts to bring the UNCRPD to life.
8.1 Workshop 1 – DPI ratification and implementation toolkits
Disabled Peoples’ International (DPI) is a worldwide network of disabled people’s organizations with national assemblies in 135 countries, and regional development offices in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, Latin America and North America-Caribbean. DPI has produced two toolkits to use with the UNCRPD, one for ratification and one for implementation. You can access both from the main DPI website, www.dpi.org, and each also has its own web address:
Ratification toolkit:
www.icrpd.net/ratifcation/en/index.htm
Implementation toolkit:
www.icrpd.net/implementation/en/index.htm
DPI’s world headquarters are in Canada and if you do not have access to the Internet, their contact details are:
Disabled Peoples’ International
874 Topsail Road,
Mount Pearl, Newfoundland
A1N 3J9, Canada
Telephone: 709-747-7600
Fax: 709-747-7603
Email: info@dpi.org
8.2 Workshop 2 – European Disability Mainstreaming Toolkit (EDAMAT)
EDAMAT (European Disability Action for Mainstreaming Assessment Tool) was developed over a two-year period in six European countries – Greece, Malta, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and the UK – with the support of the European Commission and national groups of disability stakeholders. Its aim is to assess and promote the effective mainstreaming of disability in general policies, laws and programs. EDAMAT emphasizes how to implement the concept of mainstreaming and ensure that the result has a positive impact on the lives of people with disabilities.
EDAMAT is available in five different languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Maltese and Greek (text-only). Each language version has a text-only and easy-read version. The toolkits may be downloaded from www.lcint.org/?lid=3142.
Braille versions and paper copies of all versions are available on request from:
Leonard Cheshire Disability
66 South Lambeth Road
London SW8 1RL
United Kingdom
Telephone: + 44 (0)203 242 0200
Email:
international@LCDisability.org.
8.3 Workshop 3 – VSO Disability Mainstreaming Handbook
VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas) is the world’s leading independent international development organization that works through volunteers in developing countries. To provide practical support to development organizations mainstreaming disability in their work, VSO drew on the contents of a successful disability program in Indonesia and Thailand and developed the “Disability Mainstreaming Handbook.” The handbook is primarily intended for VSO programs, but could be used by other development actors interested in mainstreaming disability, including NGOs, governments and donors.
You can download a pdf of the handbook from: www.vsointernational.org/about/resources.asp
For a paper copy, please contact:
VSO International
Carlton House,
27A Carlton Drive,
Putney,
London,
SW15 2BS
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)20 8780 7500
8.4 Workshop 4 – Tools to promote the rights of children with disabilities
Save the Children has developed a tool to support advocacy with and for children with disabilities, using the UNCRPD and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Called “Breaking the Barriers: A guide to using the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities with the Convention on the Rights of the Child,” it explores how the two treaties mutually reinforce the rights of children with disabilities, and need to be used together to promote the realization of their rights.
The guide is available from the Save the Children UK website at: www.savethechildren.org.uk
A shorter version of the same material is also available on the website of the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN), which can be accessed online at: www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=15312&fag=news
For a paper copy, please contact CRIN at:
Child Rights Information Network
1 St John’s Lane
London EC1M 4AR
United Kingdom
Tel: + 44 20 7012 6866 or 67
Email: info@crin.org
Website: www.crin.org
UNICEF has produced a special issue of its journal, Innocenti Digest, called “Promoting the Rights of Children with Disabilities.” This publication covers issues related to inclusion and features case studies of successful inclusion efforts. It can be downloaded from: http://hpod.pmhclients.com/pdf/DisabledKids.pdf
For a paper copy, please contact:
UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre
Piazza S.S. Annunziata, 12
50122 Florence
Italy
Telephone: (39) 55 20330
Fax: (39) 55 2033220
General email: Florence@unicef.org
Publication email:
forenceorders@unicef.org
Website: www.unicef-irc.org
8.5 Workshop 5 – Handbook for Parliamentarians on the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
“From Exclusion to Equality: Realizing the rights of persons with disabilities” is a new handbook for members of parliaments around the world that explains in practical terms the rationale and objectives of the new Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol. It also explores the ways in which parliaments can translate the rights and principles at the core of the Convention into tangible action in their own countries.
A joint publication of the IPU (Inter-Parliamentary Union), the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the handbook is available in English, French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic.
An html version of the handbook is available online at: www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=212. To download a pdf version or order a paper copy, please go to: www.ipu.org/english/handbks.htm#disabilities.
8.6 Workshop 6 – Making poverty reduction strategies inclusive
Poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSPs) are used in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America to form comprehensive country-based strategies for poverty reduction. The issue of disability has sometimes been left out of PRSPs, but the UNCRPD implementation process should ensure that disability is now included in all social and economic programs and strategies.
Handicap International has created “Making PRSP Inclusive,” a web-based handbook designed both for newcomers to the field and those already experienced in the disability movement. The website provides general background information, links, resources and tools on key issues regarding PRSPs, disability and project management. It also includes useful bibliographical information and tools placed in appropriate places within the text, as well as a glossary and search tool.
The handbook is available in English, French and Portuguese and may be accessed at: www.making-prsp-inclusive.org/en/how-to-use-this-handbook.html It is available to download at www.making-prsp-inclusive.org/en/download.html.
8.7 Workshop 7 – Inclusive education
The UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities requires the development of inclusive education systems for all. A process of enabling all children to learn and participate effectively within mainstream school systems, inclusive education shifts the focus from altering disabled people to ft into society to transforming society, and the world, by changing attitudes, removing barriers and providing the right support.
Some Commonwealth countries have started this transformation within their education systems, and lessons can be learned from their experiences. Richard Rieser, Director of Disability Equality in Education, a UK NGO, and a former teacher focusing on inclusion, explains how they did it in his book Implementing Inclusive Education. The book can be used by those charged with ensuring education for all, to make certain that children with disabilities are fully included in all aspects of the education system.
To purchase a copy of the book, please go to: http://publications.thecommonwealth.org
8.8 Other toolkits, handbooks and guides
- “Equal Opportunities for All: Respecting the Rights of Persons With Disabilities” is a new publication by Disabled Peoples’ International that examines how to recognize and respect the rights of people with disabilities within the North American and Caribbean context. It can be accessed at: http://caribbean.dpi.org
- Issues relating particularly to people with intellectual
disabilities are covered in “Hear Our Voices, Priority Issues for
People with Intellectual Disabilities and their Families in the
implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities.” This booklet gives general information
on how the UNCRPD can be applied in various situations, and provides
an advocacy tool for individuals and families. The brochure is
available at:
http://inclusion-international.org/site_uploads/File/HearOurVoices-Priority%20Web.08.pdf
A paper copy may be obtained from:
Inclusion International
c/o The Rix Centre
University of East London,
Docklands Campus,
4-6 University Way
London E16 2RD
Tel: 44 208 223 7709
Fax: 44 208 223 7411
E-mail: info@inclusion-international.org
Website: www.inlcusion-international.com
- People with intellectual disabilities and their advocates may also be interested in a publication from the Harvard Project on Disability called “We Have Human Rights, a human rights handbook for people with intellectual disabilities.” This guide supports people to learn about and recognize their rights as defined by the UNCRPD and their own countries’ laws. A pdf of the guide may be downloaded from www.hpod.org/pdf/we-have-humna-rights.pdf
- “RatifyNow” was founded by lifelong disability rights advocates who worked with other advocates at the United Nations to produce the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The website supports global grassroots efforts to ratify the UNCRPD, and the organization’s membership is comprised of organizations and individuals who are committed to using the CRPD to protect and advance the rights of people with disabilities worldwide. It also offers a forum where people with disabilities, government officials and journalists can learn about the treaty and support grassroots efforts to promote ratification. It can be accessed at: http://ratifynow.org/2008/03/17/researching-the-crpd-on-line
- Anyone interested in teaching others about the UNCRPD or sharing its contents with users from different backgrounds will find useful help from Handicap International, a disability and development organization working in Europe, Africa and Asia. Their website, www.handicap-international.fr/kit-pedagogique/indexen.html, offers visual aids and documents that can be downloaded in French and English.
- “Invisible People, A practical guide for journalists on how to
include persons with disabilities” was produced by the African
Decade for Disability, a project of the African Union. This
interesting handbook for journalists covers a range of issues
relating to how disability is portrayed in the media. Its goal is to
help journalists recognize and overcome stereotypes in the way that
they think about, write about, speak on and film disability issues.
To access an online copy, go to:
www.africandecade.org.
For a paper copy, please write to:
The African Decade
PO BOX 587
Cape Town 8000
South Africa
- “It’s About Ability, an explanation of the Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities” was published by UNICEF to
explain the Convention to children. It may be used by children,
teachers, parents and others to help convey a human rights based
understanding of disability, and how children with disabilities are
entitled to the same treatment as non-disabled children. A pdf
version in English, French or Spanish may be accessed at:
www.unicef.org/publications
To order a free paper copy in English, French or Spanish, please email pubdoc@unicef.org or write to:
Distribution Unit
Division of Communication
UNICEF
3 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017
USA
Please provide full details, including the title and language, and your address. Please allow 3 to 4 weeks for delivery to developing countries. - UNICEF has also created a version of the UNCRPD in child-friendly language. This may be downloaded in English on: www.unicef.org/Child_friendly_CRPD.doc
- The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol are serviced by a joint Secretariat, based both in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) in New York, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva. Their website, www.un.org/disabilities, provides a full list of countries that have signed and ratified the Convention and its Optional Protocols, as well as other information relevant to the Convention. The full text of the UNCRPD is available in more than ten languages on the site.