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Purpose: Examining everyday challenges in the interactions between people with intellectual disabilities and their staff, as seen from the user’s perspective, is an important perspective in health care research. Involving people with intellectual disabilities as so-called co-researchers is a relatively unexplored research strategy. In this paper, co-researchers participated in all the steps of the research process, from planning to reporting, in addition to the written reporting of the findings. The aim of this study was to explore how people with intellectual disabilities experienced a filmed vignette of an everyday situation.

Method: Based on audio-recorded and transcribed individual and focus-group interviews with people with intellectual disabil- ities, performed by co-researchers with intellectual disabilities together with researchers, qualitative content analysis was used.

Results: The analysis reveals three themes: “being emotionally touched”, “being aware of the other”, and “being unclear”.

Conclusions: The results are discussed in light of normalization and participation in society with independence and one’s own decision-making. Regarding the care of people with intellectual disabilities, the main finding is the need to focus not only on greater involvement of this population in their own daily lives, but also to teach self-determination skills. Another finding is the importance of involving people with intellectual impairment as co-researchers.

This publication provides introductory chapters from two activists who work to create better opportunities for people with disabilities in Nigeria and India. Subsequently, the challenges that organisations worldwide have encountered whilst improving the access to and knowledge of sexual and reproductive health and rights for people with disabilities are presented. Ways in which they managed to find solutions and the results achieved are reviewed. Some cases show the importance of a more personal approach whilst others emphasise the advantage of changing systems and policies. Different regions, types of disabilities and various SRHR-topics are reflected in these stories. All cases provide lessons learnt that contribute to a set of recommendations for improved responses. The closing chapter highlights the challenges, solutions, and ambitions that are presented and lead up to a concise overview of recommendations.  

Good practice examples include:

A shift in SRH programming (Nepal)

Breaking Barriers with performance art (Kenya)

Her Body, Her Rights (Ethiopia)

People with disabilities leading the way (Israel Family Planning Association)

Best Wishes for safe motherhood (Nepal)

It’s my body! (Bangladesh)

Calling a spade a spade (Netherlands)

Four joining forces (Colombia)

Change agents with a disability (Zimbabwe)

Tito’s privacy and rights (Argentina)

Sign language for service providers (Kenya)

This study aimed to provide better understanding of intimacy and marriage, pregnancy, birth, and motherhood experiences of women with disability in Ethiopia. Qualitative, in-depth, and semi-structured interviews along with personal observations were used to explore the full experiences of participants, as told in their own words. The result of the interviews indicated that relationships and motherhood proved a very rewarding option for women with disabilities. They also expressed their need for intimacy regardless of society’s denial. Challenges identified include negative societal attitudes toward women with disabilities regarding relationship, pregnancy, and child-rearing. Accessibility of health centers in addition to the ignorance and negative attitudes of the physicians are also reported to be major challenges for the interviewees. This study highlights how rewarding the experience of motherhood was for the interviewees and also shows that women with disabilities face challenges at every step of their experiences, because of society’s prejudices toward disability.

The gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development presents an enormous opportunity to achieve gender equality, end poverty and hunger, combat inequalities within and among countries, build peaceful, just and inclusive societies, protect and promote human rights, and ensure the lasting protection of the planet and its natural resources. The SDGs provide an important framework for collective action to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls and the realization of their full enjoyment of all human rights. This work requires continued attention to the implementation of outcomes of major United Nations conferences and Summits, including the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, as well as sustained implementation of international human rights treaties. 

Spotlights are made on areas of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, and specific targets and indicators are given. The spotlights are on intimate partner violence, harmful practices (including child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM)), unpaid care and domestic work, women in leadership, sexual and reproductive health and the gender data gap. Data gaps are identified and a five year programme is outlined, Making Every Women and Girl Count, which is designed to provide technical and financial support to countries to improve the production and use of gender statistics in order to monitor the implementation of gender equality commitments in the 2030 Agenda.

This advocacy briefing paper presents key information about the inclusion of disability in gender policies and programs. It highlights key facts and issues such as women and girls with disabilities facing multiple discrimination, gaps in political and program responses and legal policy and frameworks. It outlines practical steps can be taken by development actors at different levels and suggests ways to measure progress

Advocacy briefing paper

This document is the Sightsavers’ inclusion strategic framework 2015. It explains their rights-based approach of mainstreaming disability inclusion throughout their health programmes and their operations regarding education, organisational diversity and equal rights. It also shows their strategy focusing on the empowerment of people with disabilities in electoral process and in the financial sector

This manual presents indicators that "capture the difference (Community-Based Rehabilitation) CBR makes in the lives of people with disabilities in the communities where it is implemented. This manual presents these (base and supplementary) indicators and provides simple guidance on collecting the data needed to inform them. The indicators have been developed to show the difference between people living with a disability and their families and those without disabilities in relation to the information reported in the indicators. This comparability provides valuable information to CBR managers, donors and government agencies alike, which can be used to guide decision-making, support advocacy and improve accountability. Further, the ability of the indicators to provide a comparison of the populations of persons with disability to persons without disability aligns with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which states that persons with disability have equal rights to those without disabilities...this manual serves to standardize the monitoring of differences made by in the lives of people with disabilities and their families, making it possible to compare the difference CBR makes across areas and countries. This manual aligns with the WHO Global Disability Action Plan 2014–2021, and may also be used to monitor other development plans in an easy and efficient way”

This report covers the period of the entry into force of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) for the European Union (EU)  in January 2011 to December 2013. It begins with a brief introduction to the institutions of the EU, and some key legal and structural information. The report then focuses on the key articles of the CRPD (articles 1 to 33) and provides details on the EU's strategy towards implementation, including discussion of the measures taken, and information on the relevant EU legislation. This report would be particularly useful to anyone interested in understanding how the EU has implemented the CRPD so far

Commission Staff Working Document

Brussels, 5.6.2014 , SWD(2014) 182 final