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This synthesis report of the UN Secretary General was written to guide negotiations for a new global agenda centred on people and the planet, and underpinned by human rights, supporting States’ discussions going forward. The extensive document presents information in short numbered paragraphs, within six sections: 1) A universal call to action; 2) A synthesis “taking stock of the negotiations on the post-2015 agenda and reviewing lessons from pursuit of the MDGs; 3) Framing the agenda; 4) Mobilising the means to Implement our agenda; 5) Delivering our agenda; 6) Conclusion: together in a universal compact. It highlights the need to “finish the job,” both to help people now and as a launch pad for the new agenda

A/69/700

This brief editorial published in the Lancet highlights the situation of disabled children in Africa with reference to the 2014 publication of The African Report on Children with Disabilities by The African Child Policy Forum

The Lancet, Vol 384, No. 9959

Winterveldt was one of the 9 sites included in a national study to determine the livelihood strategies of youth with disabilities, undertaken by the Occupational Therapy Departments of 6 Universities in South Africa. Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) programmes were initiated in Winterveldt in the 1990s by non-governmental organisations and the Occupational Therapy Department at the University of Limpopo - Medical University of South Africa (MEDUNSA).

Purpose: This paper describes the use of a Transect Walk to identify aspects of context that contribute to the vulnerability of youth with disabilities with regard to their livelihood strategies.

Method: Transect Walk was employed as a participatory rapid-appraisal tool to gather data. Convenience sampling was used to identify 11 participants, including three youth with disabilities. Field notes and observations were analysed deductively for themes related to the 5 categories of livelihood assets.

Results: The findings describe the natural and built environment, the access to health, educational and financial services, and the social attitudes of people in this community towards youth with disabilities. The discussion uses the 5 CBR components as a framework to explore strategies for enhancing the assets of youth with disabilities, namely, empowerment, social, health, education, and livelihood.

Conclusions: There is significant development that could be maximised if youth with disabilities were aware of their rights and were able to access services and resources. The implication for local government is to create an inclusive environment in which youth with disabilities are able to participate in mainstream youth development opportunities.

This final short report summary encompasses the main findings of the Daphne III project “Access to Specialised Victim Support Services for Women with Disabilities who have experienced Violence.” The project aimed to assess the range of different experiences of violence against disabled women and their use of support structures. In addition specialised victim support services were interviewed about their experiences and capabilities in terms of counselling and accommodating disabled women. The project focused on three components: (1) Assessing the legal and policy framework (2) Generating extensive empirical data by surveying disabled or Deaf women (focus group discussions, in-depth-interviews) and service providers (online survey, interviews with staff members) and (3) Developing good practice examples and recommendations. For each component national reports and an associated comparative report was prepared, identifying the most prominent issues including the commonalities and differences between the four countries issues.

This short video highlights the situation of disabled children in Russian orphanages. In conjunction with the report by Human Rights Watch, it calls for the better treatment of disabled children in institutions and increased de-institutionalisation

This report reveals that Africa’s children are still subjected to levels of physical and emotional violence despite more than a decade of efforts by governments. The report “constitutes the most comprehensive study to date of the phenomenon in Africa and lays down the priorities for action at various levels that will be required to achieve better protection of children.  The report’s findings are principally informed by large scale surveys undertaken in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and a review of more than 75 studies and reports. It reveals that a distinctive range of social, cultural and economic factors can combine to increase the risk of African children facing increased levels of physical and emotional violence in domestic settings, at schools, in institutions and in the workplace. These risks may be exacerbated in times of political upheaval and conflict, and girls are particularly vulnerable”

This paper outlines specific elements when considering victim assistance in light of the CRPD and disability-inclusive development. It highlights the rights of survivors by ensuring improvement in their quality of life and transforming societies into being more inclusive of their diverse members, including survivors and other people with disabilities and families of casualties

Purpose: The social model of disability emphasises the identification and removal of barriers to the inclusion of persons with disabilities in mainstream society. The study examines issues associated with the exclusion of women with physical disabilities in Tamale, Ghana, and makes recommendations for the effective participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities, especially the women, in society.

Method: Data were gathered through in-depth individual interviews and focus group discussions. Purposive and snowball sampling were used to recruit 10 women with physical disabilities for the in-depth interviews. Purposive sampling was also used to recruit 14 representatives from government and civil society organisations for 2 multi-organisational focus groups. Using open coding and line-by-line analysis, themes and categories were identified. Themes that emerged from the focus groups and from the individual interviews were compared and contrasted to arrive at conclusions about the participation of women with physical disabilities in mainstream society.

Results: Study participants identified barriers (attitudinal, institutional, architectural, transportation, and information) and suggested methods to eradicate them and foster inclusion. At the same time they felt that it was equally important to change certain attitudes of persons with disabilities (ignorance about available resources, opportunities and potential, low levels of self-confidence, and negative reactions to societal attitudes) which contribute to their exclusion from society.

Conclusion: Advocacy interventions are recommended, which include public education, building relationships and mobilising the public for advocacy campaigns. Decision-makers need to be persuaded to make additional policies and/or enforce existing ones, to promote the inclusion and effective participation of persons with disabilities in society.

The Nairobi declaration calls for a more inclusive post-2015 agenda with a specific demand that development agenda targets and indicators explicitly include persons with disabilities. This document succinctly summarises the issues faced by persons with disabilities in Africa and their specific demands to enable greater inclusion in the post-2015 development agenda. It was adopted by persons with disabilities from Africa, representatives of national, sub-regional and Pan-African disabled people’s organisations, on the 8th of March during the Nairobi conference “Inclusive post 2015 development agenda and UN CRPD in Africa”, organised by the International Disability Alliance in partnership with the International Disability and Development Consortium, UNICEF and the UN Partnership to promote the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

“Inclusive post 2015 development agenda and UN CRPD in Africa”

8 March 2014

Nairobi, Kenya