UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). – Page 3

Participation matters – Global Survey on involvement of persons with disabilities in public decision-making

Social Structures

Symposium

Author: Rebecca Daniel – PHD Student, Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute, Department of Psychology, Maynooth University

The IDA Global Survey on political participation of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) was launched earlier this year and will remain open until the end of 2021. It is conducted as part of a PhD research project undertaken at the ALL Institute and discussed below on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

The human right to participation of persons with disabilities through their representative organisations is clearly stated in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). Articles 4.3 (on participation of OPDs in implementation of the UNCRPD overall) and 33.3 (on participation of OPDs in national implementation and monitoring of the UNCRPD), as well as General Comment No 7 specify this right. As far as the United Nations (UN) are concerned, participation of OPDs is a crucial principle to be considered throughout the activities of the UN, in line with indicator 5 of the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS) on consultation of persons with disabilities.

However, as one of the most marginalised groups (compare e.g. WHO World Report on Disability, WHO – Disability and Health and United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction), persons with disabilities are in many ways excluded from public decision-making. Their full and effective participation in all decisions concerning their lives is yet to be realised (compare e.g. Bridging the Gap: The unsteady path, IDA: Increasingly Consulted but Not Yet Participating). Public programmes, policies, plans and projects, insofar as they consider participation, are all too often addressing members of civil society as beneficiaries or consumers of services instead of citizens (Andrea Cornwall).

December 3rd 2021, UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities: Fighting for Rights in the Post – COVID Era

Stories/Lived Experiences

Symposium

Click here for Audio Version

Author: James Cawley, Policy Officer, Independent Living Movement Ireland (ILMI)

First of all, a big thank you to the “ALL Blog” for asking me back to contribute for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. It has been an extremely busy year, (all online), with working from home and receiving endless updates on the Covid-19 pandemic. December 3^rd is the UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities, and I sit here with straw and a mug of tea in hand, writing this blog one year since it started!

I’m a very proud Irish disabled man who is a son, brother, husband, friend and co – worker. I also work as a Policy Officer for Independent Living Movement Ireland (ILMI).

We are a campaigning, ‘national cross-impairment disabled person’s organisation’ or ‘DPO’ as defined under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

December 3rd 2021, Exploring this year’s theme to commemorate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities

Social Structures

Symposium

Click here to view Audio Version

Author: Dr Ana María Sánchez Rodríguez, MSCA Fellow and Adjunct Assistant Professor of the Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute

Since 1992, we celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) and this year’s theme is “Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 world”. Similarly, in 2019, the theme was: “Promoting the participation of persons with disabilities and their leadership: taking action on the 2030 Development Agenda”. The IDPD 2019, focused on persons with disabilities and their organisations’ empowerment in order to push forward the Sustainable Development Goals Agenda. The IDPD reminds us of the challenges ahead and the way forward.

Supporting collaborative leadership and promoting meaningful participation of persons with disabilities and their organisations must be a priority. Persons with disabilities need to be engaged in the decision-making processes that affect their lives. To commemorate the IDPD, I’d like to suggest and reflect on the following questions:

What does it mean to promote leadership and participation of persons with disabilities?
What has been achieved so far in this regard?
What are the learnings to bring forward to lead an inclusive, accessible, and sustainable change for persons with disabilities?

Disability, Identity, Neurodiversity & Me: Or should “Me” be first?

Stories/Lived Experience

Author: Mac MacLachlan, Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute, Maynooth University

Mac MacLachlan

Different models of disability understand disability in different ways. The medical model associates disability with illness, deficit or disorder; and with the limitations these impose on individuals. The social model sees disability, not as a personal attribute but as the experience people have of barriers to their participation in society. The human rights model recognises both social barriers to participation and personal experience (for instance chronic pain) independent of barriers; and it asserts people’s rights to overcome barriers and access services to fulfil their right to fully participate in society. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD, 2006) embraces the social- and human rights-based models and obliges States that have ratified it – Ireland did in 2018 – to provide the necessary services and supports for its implementation.

International Day of Sign Languages: Promoting Sign Languages and Deaf Culture as part of Human Diversity

Social Structures

Click here for Audio Version

Click her for Irish Sign Language Version

Author: Léa Urzel – PhD Researcher ERC Project DANCING, ALL Institute – Department of Law, Maynooth University

Léa Urzel

Today, 23 September 2021, marks the fourth celebration of the International Day of Sign Languages. Currently, Covid-19 continues to affect the lives of people around the world. The ongoing pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges for all, including persons with disabilities. It has further exacerbated the barriers that Deaf people and other sign language users face in their daily lives and highlighted the difficulties encountered in accessing services and information, notably health services and public health information (Panko et al, 2021). At the same time, it has also enhanced the use of national sign languages in public broadcasting as numerous press conferences, public health briefings and other speeches by government officials continue to be broadcast featuring sign language interpretation.

September 15th, United Nations International Day of Democracy: Enjoyment of Democratic Values and Freedoms by Persons with Disabilities

Social Structures

Author: Matthew McKenna, PhD Researcher at Maynooth University’s Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute, Research Funded through the Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) Centre for Research Training in Advanced Networks for Sustainable Societies (ADVANCE CRT)

Matthew McKenna

The Council of Europe (2020) recalls that the word ‘Democracy’ ‘comes from the Greek words “demos“, meaning people, and “kratos“, meaning power; so democracy can be thought of as “power of the people”: a way of governing which depends upon the will of the people’.

Theories and models of democracy and ‘popular governance’ have manifested in innumerate social models and national socio-political dispositions of rule over millennia since the beginnings of ‘Athenian Democracy’ in the 5^th Century BCE. The Greek Directorate of International Relations and European Union of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports (2020) provides the following synopsis of the origins of democratic rule that is cherished as part of the underpinning ethos of the favoured model of governance by the modern political establishment within the context of the socio-political order of the European Union (EU) of today: ‘Humans as autonomous entities in the context of organized society, the respect for their personality, freedoms and rights, were fundamental topics in the ancient Greek thought. From the Elegies of Solon (c. 630-560 BC) to the Democracy and Laws of Plato (428/7-348/7), the Politics of Aristotle (384-323/2 BC) and Demosthenes’ fiery speeches (384-323 / 2 BC), the ideas of justice, rule of law, decency, education, virtue and free thought stand out as key ingredients for the ideal regime’.

Ageism and Ableism: The Intersectional Discrimination Faced by Older Adults with Disabilities

Social Structures

Author: Matthew McKenna, PhD Researcher at Maynooth University’s Assisting Living and Learning Institute (ALL Institute)

Matthew McKenna

In July 2019, the United Nations (UN) ‘Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’, said that:

‘The mainstreaming of the rights of older persons with disabilities into all disability and ageing-related policies and programmes is key to ensure that the concerns and needs of older persons with disabilities are adequately addressed’.

However, older persons with disabilities face an intersectional form of discrimination within the European Union (EU), which derives from the intersection of ‘ableism’ and ‘ageism’. People within the EU are now living longer than ever before, with 101.1 million people aged 65 or over residing within the EU-27 in early 2018. Close to half of all persons over the age of 65 in the EU have some form of disability. Incidences of disability in old age, especially acquired disability, increase substantially amongst individuals in older age categories and, as a result, older persons with disabilities are at increased risk of neglect, loss of supports, abuse and poverty, amongst other risks.

SHAPES Project, Research Assistant Experience

Stories/Lived Experience

Author: Evelyn Soye, Research Assistant with the SHAPES Project (Department of Law and ALL Institute at Maynooth University)

SHAPES: Smart and Healthy Ageing through People Engaging in supportive Systems Logo.

According to European Commission’s Report on the Impact of Demographic Change, people aged over 65 account for the majority of the 50 million EU citizens who suffer from two or more chronic conditions. Meanwhile, it is estimated that demographic ageing in Europe will mean that the number of people aged 65 years and over will increase to almost 130 million by 2050. Therefore, although Europeans are living longer, increased lifespans can be associated with declining health and a greater prevalence of chronic disease and physical and cognitive impairments (UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2019).

SHAPES (Smart and Healthy Ageing through People Engaging in Supportive Systems) is an EU funded project working to develop a pan-European online platform that will provide a range of supports to older persons to facilitate their continued healthy and independent living. The project brings together thirty-six partner organisations and research institutions, across fourteen European countries, with expertise in health, social sciences, IT development, robotics, healthcare, care service provision and advocacy. Under the supervision of Prof. Delia Ferri, Co-Director of the ALL Institute, my role within SHAPES involves researching the relevant EU legal framework and investigating the extent to which it can best support the provision of inclusive, integrated health and care services.

Promoting Engagement in Sport for Persons with Disabilities Through Assistive Technology

Social Lives

Authors: Dr. Emma Smith, Postdoctoral Researcher, AT2030, ALL Institute, Department of Psychology, Maynooth University and Ana Geppert, Masters student of Global Health at VU Amsterdam, intern with the ALL Institute at Maynooth University, in partnership with Loughborough University.

Photo by Audi Nissen on Unsplash: ESPN WIde World of Sports Complex, United States Womens wheelchair basketball — Photo by Audi Nissen on Unsplash

In celebration of the launch of the #WeThe15 campaign; the largest ever global human rights campaign to increase awareness and social inclusion of people with disabilities through sport, we would like to share some of our recent research in the area. #WeThe15 is an acknowledgement that at least 15% of the world population – over 1 billion people – live with one or more disabilities, each of whom is entitled to all of the rights and freedoms, and the benefits of social inclusion experienced by people without disabilities worldwide. Of those rights affirmed in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure, and sport (Article 30) is one that we have had a recent focus on in our work.

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