Resources search

A Toolkit on Disability for Africa has been developed by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), Division for Social Policy and Development (DSPD). It is designed for the African context and aims to:

• Provide practical tools on various disability-related issues to government officials, members of parliament, civil and public servants at all levels, disabled persons organizations (DPOs) and all those with an interest in the inclusion of persons with disabilities in society and development;
• Support the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and disability-inclusive development;
• Offer examples of good practices from many countries in the African region.

Toolkit Modules:

• UN DESA toolkit on CRPD – Trainers’ tips
• Introducing the UNCRPD
• Frameworks for implementing and monitoring the UNCRPD
• Disability-inclusive development
• Accessibility
• Building multi-stakeholders partnerships for disability inclusion
• National plans on disability
• Legislating for disability rights
• Access to justice for persons with disabilities
• The rights of persons with disabilities to work
• Inclusive health services for persons with disabilities
• Participation in political and public life
• Information and communication technology (ICT) and disability
• Culture, beliefs, and disability
• Inclusive education

General principles requiring contextual adaptation regarding optimal policy related governance of health related rehabilitation in less resourced settings were developed from a literature review and realistic synthesis. A systematic review of literature published since 2003 was carried out. Multiple reviewers selected articles for inclusion in the realistic synthesis.  A Delphi survey of expert stakeholders refined and triangulated findings from the realist synthesis. Context mechanism outcome pattern configurations (CMOCs) were identified from the literature and then developed into statements for the Delphi survey, whereby 18 expert stakeholders refined these statements to achieve consensus on recommendations for policy related governance of health related rehabilitation. Several broad principles emerged throughout formulation of recommendations: participation of persons with disabilities in policy processes; collection of disaggregated disability statistics; explicit promotion in policies of access to services for all subgroups of persons with disabilities and service-users; robust inter-sectoral coordination; and ‘institutionalising’ programmes.

This video presents information about best practices in inclusive disaster risk reduction, particularly for the inclusion of people with disabilities.  It highlights information about the lack of opportunities for involvement for those with impairments, and the risks that this could pose in emergency situations. It then presents best practice methods that can be used or adapted by the person with disability in emergency situations, along with disabled survivors of emergency or disaster situations

Note: this video was produced as part of "Promoting the Inclusion of People with Disability in Disaster Management in Indonesia", a partnership project between Arbeiter Samariter Bund (ASB) & the Centre for Disability Research and Policy (CDRP), University of Sydney

“The Global Reference List of 100 Core Health Indicators is a standard set of 100 indicators prioritized by the global community to provide concise information on the health situation and trends, including responses at national and global levels. It contains indicators of relevance to country, regional and global reporting across the spectrum of global health priorities relating to the post-2015 health goals of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These include the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agenda, new and emerging priorities such as noncommunicable diseases, universal health coverage and other issues in the post-2015 development agenda.”

Participation by children and young people in advocacy and change-making can not only improve and foster positive change in their own lives, but also influence the lives of others. When young people’s participation is supported, meaningful and engaged, multiple benefits accrue; their perspectives and experiences bring a unique contribution and can result in rights-based empowerment, enacted citizenship and improved relationships. This has the potential to shape policy, to increase the relevance and responsiveness of organisations they use, and to influence change in their communities in positive ways

However, there are significant issues and a range of barriers that discourage, prevent or actively exclude children and young people with disability from participating. A culture of low expectations, social and cultural barriers, relationship and identity difficulties and practical hurdles exist for many young people. As a result, many are precluded from participation, particularly around change-making activities

This paper examines how meaningful participation of children and young people with disability in advocacy and change-making can be strengthened. In the paper CDA calls for the promotion of children and young people’s participation as active and valued community members

This guide aims to assist professionals in conducting an accessibility audit, and is aimed at Handicap International professionals who have responsibility for developing, implementing or analysing accessibility activities. Within the framework of inclusive local development, an accessibility audit is a complex, substantial and technical process to implement involving a large number of different stakeholders, increase time preparation and technical specialised skills for making recommendations to remove barriers. An accessibility audit is a participatory democracy exercise which can be used as the basis to form relationships between stakeholders in a municipality accessibility commission or even a municipality commission for inclusive development, who will have responsibility for suggesting, studying, organising and implementing actions to improve accessibility

The WHO global disability action plan 2014-2021 is a significant step towards achieving health and well-being and human rights for people with disabilities. The action plan was endorsed by WHO Member States in 2014 and calls for them to remove barriers and improve access to health services and programmes; strengthen and extend rehabilitation, assistive devices and support services, and community-based rehabilitation; and enhance collection of relevant and internationally comparable data on disability, and research on disability and related services. Achieving the objectives of the action plan better enables people with disabilities to fulfil their aspirations in all aspects of life.

Purpose: This action research aimed at developing an action plan to improve the accessibility to home health care and assistive devices for persons with disabilities in a rural community, and to evaluate changes in the numbers of such persons who received appropriate home health care and assistive devices after a three-month implementation of the action plan.

Method: The study was conducted at a sub-district of Maha Sarakham Province, Thailand. The main beneficiaries were 99 persons with disabilities (mean age 55.4±18.7 years). Group meetings were organised for persons with disabilities, caregivers, and various community members. An action plan for improving the accessibility of persons with disabilities to home health care and assistive devices was collaboratively formulated and implemented for three months.

Results: The main strategy for improving accessibility was to increase the competency of village health volunteers in providing home health care and assistive devices to persons with disabilities. After the three-month action plan implementation, the number of persons with disabilities who received appropriate home health care, i.e. at least once a month, significantly increased from 33.3% to 72.2% (Chi-square test, P<0.01, 95% CI 18.5 to 59.3). The number of persons who received assistive devices suited to their disabilities also significantly increased from 33.3% to 58.3% (Chi-square test, P=0.03, 95% CI 3.5 to 46.5).

Conclusions: Under the supervision of physical therapists and/or other allied health professionals, the village health volunteer is likely to be a key person for improving the accessibility to home health care and assistive devices for personswith disabilities in a rural community.

Limitations: The study was limited to only one sub-district. No comparable areas were studied. Further, since the study recruited persons with disabilities from a rural community, applicability of the findings to persons with disabilities in an urban community should be considered judiciously.