IDPP

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New White Paper: Accessibility in Global Governance

AGG cover pageOn International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2018, the Institute on Disability and Public Policy (IDPP) launched a new white paper report on “Accessibility in Global Governance: The (In)Visibility of Persons with Disabilities.” Co-authored by the IDPP Executive Director Derrick Cogburn and myself, this white paper is the culmination of a two-year research project that included subject matter expert interviews and a global survey of disability rights advocates from over 50 countries, most of whom in developing parts of the world.

This research, which was supported by The Nippon Foundation, is the first study to comprehensively map barriers to accessibility at United Nations meetings, conferences, and events, as well as other important international forums. In addition, the report also offers examples and recommendations based on recent international conferences that pioneered the use of accessible Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs, including both web-conferencing software and telepresence robots) to facilitate effective remote participation for people with disabilities.

To read and download the full report, click here.

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At the U.N. for COSP10 with IDPP

COSP10

This week I am in New York to participate in the historic 10th Conference of State Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the United Nations’ Headquarters. The biggest disability rights conference in the world, COSP brings together all the countries that signed the CRPD, U.N. agencies, and civil society organizations for a series of talks on the advancement of disability rights
around the globe.

The Institute on Disability and Public Policy at American University has organized three side-events during COSP and co-sponsors two more. I am moderating the three IDPP events and sharing some of the latest IDPP research on Accessible Global Governance together with IDPP Executive Director Dr. Derrick Cogburn. To know more about IDPP’s side-events and the program for the week, click here.

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UMD Disability Summit 2017 Presentations

This Friday (April 21st) I will participate in the University of Maryland Disability Summit for the first time. I look forward to this event that brings together researchers, disability rights advocates and inclusion champions in the Washington, DC metropolitan area and from across the nation. A full program for the day is available here.

Together with colleagues from the AU Institute on Disability and Public Policy (IDPP) I will be presenting on several disability grassroots advocacy topics, including:

  • Virtual disability protest under the Trump administration (10:00am, Colony Ballroom)
  • Using ICTs to enhance the participation of the disability community in global governance processes (with Derrick Cogburn and Maya Aguilar – 10:00am, Colony Ballroom)
  • The CRPD (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) iOS App (poster presentation, Colony Ballroom)

 

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AU IDPP Seminar: Storytelling and Digital Disability Advocacy

The Institute on Disability and Public Policy (IDPP) has launched its second seminar series on Disability, Development and Global Governance. Following an introductory session from IDPP’s director Dr. Derrick Cogburn, I was pleased to facilitate the second session in this fall’s series on Sept. 20th on the topic of personal stories in digital disability rights advocacy. You can find a brief summary of the event by clicking here. idpp-seminar_room

IDPP seminars will continue every Tuesday between 12-1:30pm in the School of International Service’s building, room 300, until December 6th. Anyone can attend. To check out the amazing line up of speakers from AU and the broader Washington, DC policy community, click here.

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9th Conference of State Parties to the CRPD

This week I will attend the 9th Conference of State Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) at the U.N. headquarters in New York City as part of the delegation from American University’s Institute on Disability and Public Policy (IDPP), of which I recently became Deputy Director. This year marks a particularly important occasion as it is the 10th anniversary of the CRPD. In collaboration with other partners, IDPP has prepared two side events to this conference. These include:

  • Disability and Digital Societies side event: Wednesday, June 15th, 8-9:30am, UN conference room 11 – click here to attend this side event remotely;
  • Accessible Global Governance side event: Thursday, June 16th, 6:15-8pm, UN conference room 11 – click here to attend this side event remotely.

More information about each event is available here.