[inclusivepolicy]

I would love to see commitments to create more independent and integrated living options for people with disabilities. A crucial part of fair housing is ensuring people with disabilities have housing options that allow them to be independent and integrated, which can be supported through coordinated services and more accessible options. Governments should take the lead on this and as much as possible, ensure housing is integrated and not isolated.

[inclusivepolicy]

Thanks for posing this important question and interesting to read the responses so far. The situation varies from region to region . I would like to comment on the Asia-Pacific region which is home to more than 700 million persons with disabilities. The region has been implementing 5th decade  of persons with disabilities , starting from the very first decade which is the UN decade of disabled people 1983-1992  and to the present decade 2023-2032. It is a matter of concern that only 29 countries responded to a voluntary survey at the end of the 4th decade ( 2013-2022 )  to assess the progress on disability inclusive development in the region and only 22 countries reported on how persons with disabilities and their representative organizations  were involved in the development of national policies , plans and strategies.

None of the 29 countries that have responded to the survey have indicated that engagement with OPDs is a priority to achieve disability -inclusive development. The evidence available on records clearly indicate that governments are yet to effectively engage OPDs not just in the case of implementation of the CRPD but in all matters related to their  development.

I have time and again expressed my views about the  critical role of the UN entities and UNCTs at the national level in making development inclusive for persons with disabilities in developing countries . UN should impress upon the government line ministries to consult OPDs, and to ensure OPDs are at the center of all decisions that impact them. To achieve  this , there should be an organizational culture within the UN system to engage with OPDs and to hear their voices.  There is a good practice in Lao PDR where the UN Resident Coordinator’s office  has started to engage with OPDs and has invited one of the organizations to train 28 staff  members from the UN Country Team. World Food Programme has engaged one of the OPDs to conduct accessibility audits of their offices and in developing a Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2023-25 . But these are not very common practices in all countries across the region . The  2020 UN Sec-Gen’s report on the implementation of the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS ) states that 80% of the UN entities are yet to engage with OPDs.  In my opinion, there is scarcity of  demand to seek OPDs advice and we need to continue to create that kind of an environment where govts , UN, Donors and CSOs have an organizational culture to engage with OPDs.

With regards to incorporation of the voices of children and youth , we have some examples of children engaging in  governance but there is little evidence of children with disabilities involved in  such governance. processes. Once again there is a good practice from Lao PDR World Food Programme inviting children with disabilities and their parents to participate in the development of their disability inclusion action plan.  We need to see more of such good practices and the 5 key  disability  stakeholders ( Govt, UN, Donors , INGOs & NGOs and OPDs) have to jointly advocate for engaging children and youth with disabilities.

[inclusivepolicy]

Thank you Sander Schot for your comments and appreciate the point on proactive role of the UN staff who have persons with disabilities in their families/ friends circles.  On the point made regarding invitation to UN to participate in key events,  here in  Lao PDR, OPDs actively engage with the UNCT and organize annual disability policy dialogues in which key UN entities participate and discuss how best the national socio-economic development plans could become disability-inclusive .

[inclusivepolicy]

Thank you Kiran and the UNDIS also has a accountability framework for the UN entities with 15 common-system indicators and a UN Country Team Accountability Score Card  on disability inclusion. It is interesting to read the report of the UN Sec Gen on how the UNCTs and UN entities are promoting disability inclusion.

[inclusivepolicy]

Many thanks Mansi for your comments and especially suggestions regarding joint advocacy, partnership-building and regular communication with OPD network at the country level could go a long way in strengthening coalition between UNCTs and OPDs.

[inclusivepolicy]

Thanks Dan for your valuable point and yes, engagement with OPDs should be from the inception of developing policies /programs that impact them. For instance, there are clear guidelines for UNCTs on how OPDs should be engaged while developing the  UN Development Assistance Framework / UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework and often  OPDs are not involved and the cooperation frameworks fall short of disability-inclusive development.

[inclusivepolicy]

Thank you Ruby for mentioning underrepresented groups who often are not well represented within the OPD network. The suggestion on mapping of OPDs by UNCTs is brilliant and this could perhaps enable UNCTs to implement the UNDIS effectively.

[inclusivepolicy]

Very true and we need to see more persons with disabilities hired within the UN Systems and some of the recent procurement notifications clearly encourage persons with disabilities to apply for positions. Organizations such as World Food Programme have developed a road map for disability inclusion and now it has become a work plan for inclusion .

[inclusivepolicy]

Thanks you Dr. Abbhishek for some practical suggestions. Indeed, as I see some of it has been put into action in countries like Lao PDR where the UN Resident Coordinator on behalf of the  Country Team invited OPD network  to conduct accessibility audit of the UN House and also  to raise their awareness about disability inclusion in the form of an inter-agency quiz on disability inclusion. The UNCT has  also consulted OPDs in submitting UNCT Joint Report to the CRPD committee during the review of the national report. There are some good practices but limited to few countries.

[inclusivepolicy]

A lot of important insights have been shared already on this month’s discussion question (e.g. the need to make UN staff aware of their own commitments to disability rights and inclusion). A have a few practical suggestions for OPDs and disability rights allies:

• <u>Find allies within the UN country teams</u>: Organizational commitments are important and define the push from senior management on what’s the agenda for the future. At the same time there is another important ‘asset’ within UN country team, staff who have siblings, children, relatives or friends with disabilities and have a personal experience. They may be more (intrinsically) motivated than others and more inclined to help push for a change to make disability inclusion a reality.
• <u>Celebrate the wins: </u>Fighting for disability rights is often a long-term process and with sometimes small steps forward and setbacks at times. Celebrate the small wins, focus on the fight as a joint mission to undertake with the allies within the UN country teams. Keep motivating eachother and keep pushing.
• <u>Facilitate visibility on disability rights within UN country team</u>: Invite UN staff to events where OPD representatives speak, or invite UN staff as speakers on events like the IDPD. Deploy a strong communication strategy around it with professional good quality pictures and strong quotes that can go on social media during or after the event, tagging UN country teams and other influential persons who are present. Make sure that you tailor the messaging and channels to the ones that UN staff use most often.

Good luck with the rest of the discussion this month!

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