IFES Signs “Global Call to Action for Disability Inclusion”
InterAction’s previous Disability Inclusion Award winners, including the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and chairs of InterAction’s disability working group, have published the Global Call to Action for Disability Inclusion. The letter, which marked the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), was released to address concerns that “the international community as a whole is failing to provide the necessary resources, attention and leadership” on disability inclusion.
The Global Call recognizes that the world’s one billion persons with disabilities have talents from which international development and humanitarian programs can benefit. The letter urges governments, international organizations, civil society groups, academic institutions, and others to mainstream disability inclusion in funding, programmatic, and organizational policies, for example, requiring that projects and solicitations integrate disability and ensure resources for accommodations, accessible facilities, and collection of data on disability. Among other recommendations, the letter calls on country-level priorities to be determined with input from the disability community, such as during the development phase of the Country Development Cooperation Strategies by the U.S. Agency for International Development, and for implementers to meaningfully engage with disabled people’s organizations.
The letter was signed by IFES, InterAction, Habitat for Humanity, Handicap International, HelpAge, Mercy Corps, Mobility International-USA, Trickle Up, U.S. International Council on Disabilities, World Learning, and World Vision.
