Resources search

The Evidence Digest aims to capture knowledge emerging from Helpdesk activities in a systematic manner and disseminate findings. This short summary will:

Share information on and learnings from the Disability Inclusion Helpdesk over the last quarter, highlighting headline messages and implications for programmers and policymakers;
Share relevant information and learning from other DID outputs;
Provide relevant information on recent evidence, policy changes and events in the field of disability inclusion, and;
Raise awareness on how to access the Helpdesk and demonstrate its offer.

The importance of online communities for parents of people with disabilities has been discussed by many scholars in the fields of Digital and Disability Studies, showing, for instance, the importance of social support and the formation of social ties. In order to contribute to this scholarship, this paper explores how collective identity models are built and circulated by parents of autistic people in one of the biggest Brazilian online communities about the subject, ‘Sou autista… conheça o meu mundo’ (I am autistic…get to know my world). The results were obtained through a digital ethnography, based on participant observation and an exchange of information with the members of the community studied. Based on the data collected, the study concludes that the collective identity models that circulate in this community can be grouped into legitimising, resistant, and project identities, as postulated by Castells (2010). The different views reflect how parents see autism and represent the ways it is treated in Brazilian society.

Disability and the Global South, 2018 Vol.5, No. 1

The ideology of Emancipatory Disability Research (EDR) reflected in the phrase ‘Nothing about us without us’, was first put forward in the 1990s. Although it aimed to place research control in the hands of the ‘researched’, i.e., people with disability, this rarely happens even today, 25 years later.

The Community Action Research on Disability (CARD) programme in Uganda embraced and modified the EDR approach, recognising the need for including people with disability in the research process from concept to outcome, and nurturing participation and collaboration between all the stakeholders in achieving action-based research. The research teams always included people with disability and staff from Disability People’s Organisations (DPOs) as well as academics and service providers. It endeavoured to generate and carry out research around issues that mattered to people with disability and their families. Leadership roles were assigned by team members. The objectives of the CARD programme were: (1) to fund teams to carry out action-based research on disability in Uganda; (2) to develop research and administrative capacity to manage the initiative within the academic registrar’s office at Kyambogo University; (3) to incorporate new knowledge generated from the studies into the ongoing local community-based rehabilitation and special education courses; and, (4) to ensure wide dissemination of research findings to all stakeholder groups.

CARD ran for 5 years, commissioning 21 action research studies in the field of disability and community-based services. This paper describes the process, presents the 12 completed studies, examines the extent to which the objectives were achieved and evaluates the experiences of the participating research teams, particularly in relation to the inclusion of its members with disability. It concludes with recommendations for future initiatives designed to promote validity, good value and inclusive approaches in disability research.

This report highlights two big global challenges for the current state of data: whole groups of people are not being counted and important aspects of people’s lives and environmental conditions are still not measured; and there are huge and growing inequalities in access to data and information, and in the ability to use it. The report makes specific recommendations on how to address these challenges, calling for a UN-led effort to mobilise the data revolution for sustainable development: fostering and promoting innovation to fill data gaps; mobilising resources to overcome inequalities between developed and developing countries and between data-poor and data-rich people; leadership and coordination to enable the data revolution to play its full role in the realisation of sustainable development

This article examines the similarities between the concepts of 'community of practice' and 'networking for learning'. This article examines the common elements, and discusses the approaches, the characteristics, theoretical background and importance for development of each model. Next, similarities based on conceptions of social learning are explored. Finally, it is argued that communities of practice and networks for learning are part of the same continuum with varying degrees of formality, ranging from informal communities of practice to highly formal networks for learning. This article provides a valuable, relatively accessible introduction to the ideas of "networking" and "community of practice", discusses how they have evolved and explores how they can be useful to the development sector

This handbook addresses the information needs of rural communities in Africa and explores the relationship between knowledge and development, and how community information resource centres can contribute to and can spark community development. It provides guidance for establishing community information centres and for ensuring their sustainability. The second edition includes several case studies from Ethiopia, draws out lessons learned, and includes a special section on HIV and AIDS resource centres. Each chapter concludes with suggested discussion questions for community groups

This book looks at the way communities and groups in developing countries are appropriating information and communication technologies (ICTs) to address their needs. It finds that ICTs are being integrated into wider community-based activities and adapted to fit different contexts. It follows on from the paper "Discovering the Magic Box". It finds that there are still few examples of community-driven and locally appropriated ICT initiatives and an absence of standards or guidelines to evaluate ICT-based projects. The book includes some analytical frameworks and indicators to identify good practice and evidence of impact A significant development has been in the growth of telecommunications, in particular mobile phones, that are relatively cheap and powerful tools for poor communities, even in remote areas. The book concludes that the power of oral communication through telephones and radio cannot be underestimated. The book proposes that the main challenge is to adapt the new, usually computer-based ICTs to the needs of poor, predominantly oral-based communities so that they can be appropriated effectively and quickly

A study for DFID staff, and for policy consideration, about the role of ICT in development. Identifies and assess the links between information and poverty, and concludes that although spreading ICT ('bridging the digital divide') should not be an end in itself, there is enormous potential for ICTs to increase information flow and empower poor people. The study then discusses the potential role of the international community, and sets out specific recommendations for DFID. Includes several appendices containing: a bibliography; brief case studies of Chile, Costa Rica and India; and list of related DFID funded projects. The study concludes that ICT should not be viewed as an end itself but has the potential as a tool to increase information flows and empower people. It can play a part in achieving International Development Goals