We are co-organising two side events during the Global Disability Summit on 16 – 17 February 2022.
1. Bringing deinstitutionalisation back on the agenda
Organised jointly with the Global Coalition on Deinstitutionalisation, consisting of: ENIL, Inclusion International, International Disability Alliance, TCI Global, Disability Rights Fund/Disability Rights Advocacy Fund, Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria, Disability Rights International and Validity Foundation.
Date: 16th February 2022, 12:00 – 13:15 CET
Registration: Please click here.
Accessibility: Captions, International Sign Language, interpretation into French
Description of the side event:
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a horrendous impact on people with disabilities worldwide, many of whom were significantly and disproportionately affected. Death, isolation and segregation have been some of the consequences. At the global level, the collective testimonies of persons with disabilities have highlighted the urgent situation of persons in institutions. Analysis of thousands of testimonies, the largest internationally comparable dataset, at the time, resulted in Disability Rights during the Pandemic: A global report on findings of the COVID-19 Disability Rights Monitor on the experiences of persons with disabilities and the consequences of government actions or inactions on the rights of persons with disabilities. The findings of the report about the dangers faced by people with disabilities led to a global call for immediate, emergency efforts to stop new placements and ensure continued deinstitutionalization.
The urgency to react, recognised by many international agencies, resulted in an initiative by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which has gone on to form a Working Group on Emergency Deinstitutionalization with a view to developing Guidelines on deinstitutionalization, including in emergencies. To inform this process, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee) has taken testimony of more than 500 people with disabilities from all parts of the world.
In September 2021, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted an annotated outline of its Guidelines on Deinstitutionalization of Persons with Disabilities, including in emergency situations.The outline describes the content of the Guidelines, currently under preparation. A draft version of the Guidelines is expected to be published soon, with a call for written submissions to all interested stakeholders.
The Guidelines will provide further concrete guidance to implement the right to live independently and being included in the community and will be a tool to support States parties and other stakeholders in overcoming isolation, segregation and discrimination faced by children and adults with disabilities.
Despite the consensus on the importance of deinstitutionalization – deinstitutionalization isn’t explicitly on the GDS 2022 agenda. This side event, organized by major global disability right groups gathered around the Global Coalition on Deinstitutionalization, aims to overcome this gap and bring attention to the important process of development of the CRPD Committee’s Guildelines on DI.
2. The contribution of the Independent Living Movement to social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities
Organised jointly with the World Independent Living Network (WIN)
Date: 16th February 2022, 17:00 – 18:15 CET
Registration: Please click here.
Accessibility: Captions, International Sign Language
Description:
This side event will highlight the importance of Independent Living for the social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities. With access to inclusive education, employment and livelihoods and health on top of the Global Disability Summit agenda, the World Network on Independent Living will highlight that none of these are possible without Independent Living. Speakers from different parts of the world will present good practices that enable persons with disabilities to live independently in the community, from personal assistance in Japan to the work of Centres for Independent Living in Costa Rica. The aim is to show Governments and funders that progress is necessary and possible, as long as there is political commitment to change and full involvement of persons with disabilities and their representative organisations.