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Sylvana Lakkis, Mohammed Loutfy and Jana Husseini from DPI Arab Region, Mathew Wright from DPI Australia, Senarath and Lasanthi Attanayake from DPI Sri Lanka, A.S. Narayanan, Zorin Singha and Geeta Sharma from DPI India, Ayassou Komivi from DPI Togo, Idriss Maiga Alzouma from DPI Nigeria, Yatma Fall from DPI Senegal, Pawlos Kassu from DPI Ethiopia, Magino Corporan Lorenzo from DPI Dominican Republic and Dorodi Sharma from DPI Secretariat.

DPI co-sponsored the prestigious Civil Society Forum. Mohammed Loutfy of DPI Arab Region moderated the Closing Session of the CRPD Forum. Sylvana Lakkis, 2nd Vice-Chair of DPI and Chair DPI Arab Region called for meaningful participation of people with disabilities in development, beyond time-bound projects.

DPI was also represented by Sylvana Lakkis and Mohammed Loutfy at the General Debate during CoSP9.

Sylvana Lakkis, 2nd Vice-Chair of DPI spoke from the floor during the General Debate on Day 3 of the Conference and called for bridging the knowledge gap at the grassroots and assured of DPI’s continued commitment towards a new global movement of persons with disabilities.

Mohammed Loutfy of DPI Arab Region also spoke from the floor during the General Debate highlighting the issues of people with disabilities in the Arab region and of the new Strategic Plan of the Arab Forum for the Rights of Persons With Disabilities (AFRPD).

Magino Corporán Lorenzo of DPI Dominican Republic spoke at the 3rd Roundtable titled “Enhancing accessibility to information and technology and inclusive development” on Day 3 of the Conference.

"DESA/DSPD Forum: Ways Forward Towards a Disability Inclusive and Accessible New Urban Agenda and its implementation".

"How Can Digital Societies Contribute to Achieving the SDGs for Persons with Disabilities?" organised by SCRPD/DESA and IDPP. Dorodi Sharma spoke at this side-event.

"How Regional Collaboration can Lead to More Effective Implementation of Political Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the 2030 Development Agenda" organised by International Foundation for Electoral Systems. Senarath Attanayake and Mohammad Ali Loutfy spoke at this side-event.

"Harmonizing CRPD Obligations and the 2030 SDG Action Agenda: Closing Gaps in Monitoring Processes and Implementation" organised by G3ict. Dorodi Sharma spoke at this side-event. Also, a presentation on the data collected by DPI and G3ict for the 2016 CRPD ICT Accessibility Report and SDG Survey of Countries 'Readiness and Preparedness' was made at the event. See the full presentation here.

"Urban Development and Human Resilience: An Essential approach towards Inclusive Cities for Persons with Disabilities in the Arab Region/Over View of Kuwait 2035 Vision Towards Persons with Disability" organized by DPI Arab Region.

"Challenges and Opportunities for Accessible Global Governance: Enhancing Participation for Persons with Disabilities in UN Processes" organized by American University. Mohammed Ali Loutfy spoke at this event.

Access and Inclusion - A Survey of Innovation through Global Solutions Network

Following many discussions over four days, DPI has come out with the “Delhi Declaration”. You can read a copy of the same here.

Congratulations to the new DPI World Executive Council: Global Chair (2nd Term) – Javed Abidi, India; Deputy Chair 1 – Henrietta Davis-Wray, Jamaica; Deputy Chair 2 – Sylvana Lakkis, Lebanon; Secretary – Ayassou Komivi, Togo; Treasurer – Shudarson Subedi, Nepal; and Information Officer – Trevor Carroll, Australia.

Thaawar Chand Gehlot, Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India was the Chief Guest.

Prime Minister Message.

Congratulations to the new DPI AP Regional Executive: Chairperson - Trevor Carroll, Australia; Vice-Chairperson 1 - Casper Fa'asala, Solomon Islands; Vice-Chairperson 2 - Muhammad Usman Khaled, Bangladesh; Secretary - Ky Sophan, Cambodia; Treasurer - Josephine de Vera, Philippines; and Information Officer - Ahmed Mohamed, Maldives.

Congratulations to the new DPI Africa Regional Executive: Chairperson – Ekaete Judith Umoh, Nigeria; Vice-Chairperson - Djimnayel Robkedi, Chad; Secretary - Regina Lephoi, Lesotho; Treasurer - Joseph Rono, Kenya; and Information Officer - Yatma Fall, Senegal.

DPI Statement IDPD 2015 DPI Statement Panel Discussion IDPD 2015

Continuing with it's endeavor to reach out to neglected countries and societies where disabled people are left unheard, DPI has successfully formed new partnerships and memberships in four previously neglected Pacific island countries. With Micronesia, Palau, Tongo and Tuvalu, the total number of memberships has now gone up to 152.

The World Bank initiated a review process of its safeguards to overhaul its environmental and social safeguard policies, whereby it included many issues for the first time including disability. World Bank's safeguards are the cornerstone of its support towards poverty reduction. Inclusion of disability in the review process marks the realization on the Bank's part that persons with disabilities often form the most poor and most vulnerable section of the society in a country. The Bank now aims towards a participatory review process, to formulate a clear and strong policy for incorporating disability related issues in the development process.

As part of this process, multiple consultations are being held across the globe to collate feedback on the draft report that was released by the World Bank on the Safeguard review. Many of DPIs members have participated in these consultations to reiterate to the establishment that disability cannot be ignored once again and they must include it in the review process. To know more about the campaign, please visit the World Bank Safeguards page here.

DPI Global Chair, Javed Abidi was recently in Mauritius for the first ever National Disability Excellence Awards organized by the Training and Employment of Disabled Persons Board (TEDPB). He also used to this opportunity to meet with local organizations (DPOs and NGOs) and the leaders and activists of the disability movement of Mauritius. The meeting that was organized on December 4, 2014 at Voila, Bagatelle saw over 30 participants and was widely represented by different disabilities, including people with developmental disabilities. At this meeting, a decision was taken to withdraw the recognition of DPO Mauritius as a Member of DPI and to set up an Ad Hoc Committee which would take the DPI agenda forward and work towards establishing a vibrant network of DPOs and NGOs in Mauritius as a member of Disabled People's International.

The ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) by Vietnam on December 3, 2014, brought a total of 153 States Parties to the CRPD.

To access the complete list of signatories and States Parties, please click here .

For the last three years, DPI has partnered with the Essl Foundation and the World Future Council to implement the Zero Project research studies. Each year, Innovative Practices and Policies are researched worldwide that help to improve the lives of persons with disabilities. The team also researches Social Indicators that measure the implementation of UNCRPD and the current situation in countries across the world. To know more, please visit our website:http://dpi.org/Reports

This year, DPI collaborated with the Zero Project team once again to implement the study on 'Independent Living and Political Participation'.

We are very pleased to announce that 133 DPI member countries from all the 7 regions - Africa, Arab, Asia Pacific, CIS, Europe, Latin America and North America and the Caribbean, have participated in this year's study.

As part of the 'International Conference – From Exclusion to Empowerment: The Role of Information and Communication Technologies for Persons with Disabilities' that was recently held at New Delhi, India, UN DESA and UNESCO jointly organized a Forum on 'ICT and Disability: Pursuing Inclusive Development through Technology'. The Forum focused on the role of technology in the post 2015 framework and in the realization of the rights of persons with disabilities. DPI Global Chair Javed Abidi spoke at the Forum and talked of the dire need to spread awareness about ICT and available technology for persons with disabilities, especially from the Global South.

DPI-Arab Region organized a Regional Assembly on April 22-24, 2014 in Cairo, Egypt. Over the last one year, DPI, supported by its partner in the Arab region – Lebanese Physically Handicapped Union (LPHU), has been working on reviving and reigniting the disability movement in the often neglected Arab world. Despite all odds, the DPI-Arab region took off in December 2013 during its first regional meeting held in Beirut, Lebanon.

The Regional Assembly saw member representatives come together to discuss a way forward for the newly formed DPI-Arab region. The Assembly also hosted its first ever historic elections, the results of which are as follows: Chairperson – Sylvana El Lakkis (Lebanon); Vice-Chairperson 1 - Basher El Faitoury (Libya); Vice-Chairperson 2 - Reham Al Masry (Egypt); Secretary - Ahmed Berkia (Morocco); Treasurer - Manal Ali Saleh Al Ashwal (Yemen)

A two-day Capacity Building workshop will be organized by DPI, in partnership with G3ict along with the technical support of BarrierBreak and funding from Microsoft Corporation in February.

The objective of this event is to promote technical knowledge and capacity of leading executives and officials of Disabled Persons' Organizations to advocate and interact effectively with policy makers and industry to ensure the accessibility of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). This two day workshop will be held in New Delhi, India on 15th-16th February, 2014 and will have participants from across South Asia.

Lebanese Physical Handicapped Union (LPHU) with Disabled People's International and supported by DIAKONIA organized a historic regional conference for Reviving the Arab Disability Movement in Beirut, Lebanon from 12th to 14th December, 2013. Participants from various Arab countries came together on one platform where voices from the Arab Region were heard. The conference led to the establishment of a new DPI Arab region, the office of which will be based out of Beirut, Lebanon.

On 19th-20th November, DPI organized a successful workshop in Blantyre, Malawi, under the aegis of the Building Advocacy Capacity Project in Africa. The workshop was opened by the Minister of Disability Affairs, Rachel Kachaje. It saw more than 30 participants representing different DPOs of the country. The workshop was also attended by the representatives of the Ministry of Disability and Elderly Affairs.

Malawi President Joyce Banda recently appointed a new Cabinet in the country. Rachel Kachaje of DPI Malawi, who is the current Chair of DPI Africa and also the Vice Chair of DPI has been appointed as the Minister of Disabilities and Elderly Affairs for Malawi.

On 23 September 2013, the UN General Assembly will hold a High-level Meeting on Disability and Development, with the overarching theme, "The way forward: a disability-inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond".

In light of the High Level Meeting, UNICEF and UNDESA organized an online moderated consultation to gather views on how to include disability in the post-2015 development framework, in order to contribute to the ongoing work for the High Level Meeting.

DPI HQ nominated Jean Luc Simon, Chairperson, DPI-Europe; Sherzodbek Sharipov, Human Rights Officer, DPI; Maria Isabel, Regional Development Officer, DPI Latin America; and Sylvana Lakkis of the Lebanese Physical Handicapped Union (LPHU) as language moderators for the online sessions in French, Russian, Spanish and Arabic respectively.

The Online Consultation was a huge success that saw active participation from more than 60 countries all over the world. Many DPI members contributed to the discussions in different languages where more than 1000 posts were seen. UNICEF and UNDESA have thanked and congratulated DPI for this successful collaboration.

The World Bank has initiated a two-year review process (2012-2014) to overhaul its environmental and social safeguard policies. These policies symbolize core values of the institution and are the cornerstone of the Bank's efforts to protect people and their environment and to ensure sustainable development outcomes.

The first phase of the review process involved in-country consultations with multi stake holders and government representatives in different parts of the world. Additionally, the World Bank also scheduled a one-day focus group meeting on Disability in Washington on April 04, 2013. The meeting was attended by a limited number of DPO representatives.

Three of DPI's representatives i.e Moctar Ba, Chairperson of DPI-Mali, Imed Chaker, Chairperson of DPI-Tunisia and Saowalak Thongkuay, Regional Development Officer, DPI-Asia Pacific attended the meeting on the safeguard review process.

As part of the DPI-CIDA Human Rights Defenders Project, the Secretary General and Executive Director of DPI-Tanzania met the Director of Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) on March 12, 2013, and apprised him on various issues concerning the rights of disabled people in Tanzania.

They shared information on the DPI-CIDA Human Rights Defenders Project and the activities that it entails, including the upcoming workshop under the aegis of the Project.

The Director of the Commission also shared information on the structure of CHRAGG, which includes Disability and Human Rights as a separate wing with a Commissioner responsible for overlooking the issues of people with disabilities.

As part of the Human Rights Defenders Project, a delegation of six representatives from DPI-Bangladesh met the Chairperson of Bangladesh's National Human Rights Commission on April 4, 2013, and apprised him on various issues concerning the rights of disabled people in Bangladesh.

A productive dialogue was exchanged with the NHRC Chairperson on the Human Rights Defenders Committee and the Project.

NHRC Chairperson shared information on activities and programmes being undertaken by NHRC and invited DPI-Bangladesh to be a part of their monthly meetings.

Bapu Trust for Research on Mind & Discourse, Pune, supported by the Open Society Foundation, is organizing a a peer exchange program on “Transforming Communities for Inclusion of Persons with Psychosocial Disabilities” to provide space to people with psychosocial disabilities to address some very important questions.

It is envisioned that through 4-5 meetings over the next two years, a group of people with psychosocial disabilities will come together to share their experiences, develop a regional vision and platform for action, develop strategies for both advocacy and grassroots services, and finally, dialogue with key global agencies to bring their concerns to the forefront. The first meeting under this initiative will be held in Pune, India from 30th April to 4th May 2013.

Javed Abidi, Global Chair of DPI will be speaking on May 3, 2013 at the panel discussion on inclusion of people with psychosocial disabilities in the cross disability movement.

The ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) by Iraq on March 20, 2013 brought the total number of State Parties that have ratified the Convention to 130.

Iraq has not signed or ratified the Optional Protocol, which currently has a total number of 76 ratifications.

To access the complete list of signatories and States Parties:

• CRPD
• OP

DPI-Chairperson, Javed Abidi visited Tokyo, Japan for the Second International Working Group on Leprosy and Human Rights that was held on March 14-15, 2013.

The United Nations General Assembly in December 2010 adopted a resolution which endorsed the Principles and Guidelines for the Elimination of Discrimination of Persons affected by Leprosy and their Family Members (P&G).

The Nippon Foundation is organizing a symposia series covering five regions to disseminate and encourage the implementation of these principles and guidelines throughout the world.

The second symposium of the Working Group was held in New Delhi, India in October 2012.

Mr. Abidi, while in Tokyo, also met many other organizations and individuals including DPI-Japan.

DPI family is elated at your becoming the language moderators for French, Russian, Spanish and Arabic for the online consultations on disability inclusive post 2015 being organised by UN DESA and UNICEF.

On 23 September 2013, the UN General Assembly will hold a High-level Meeting on disability and development, with the overarching theme “The way forward: a disability-inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond”, at UN Headquarters in New York.

To ensure that the post-2015 agenda is inclusive of disability, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs in collaboration with UNICEF is holding an online moderated consultation to gather views from a broad range of stakeholders on how to include disability in the post-2015 development framework, in order to contribute to the ongoing work for the High-level Meeting.

Simultaneous consultations are taking place in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Portugese, Chinese and Russian.

Jean Luc Simon, Chairperson, DPI-Europe; Sherzodbek Sharipov, Human Rights Officer, DPI; Maria Isabel, Regional Development Officer, DPI Latin America; and Sylvana Lakkis, The Lebanese Physical Handicapped Union (LPHU) have been chosen as the global moderators for the online sessions in French, Russian, Spanish and Arabic.

The World Bank has initiated a two year review process to overhaul their safeguard policies. Currently these policies do not address the issue of disability rights.

The World Bank organized consultations all over the world inviting multi-stakeholders including DPOs to participate in the review process, share experiences and suggestions, and ensure inclusion of people with disabilities in this entire process.

Many of DPI's members from all over the world participated in these consultations, which led to a World Bank Expert Focus Group Meeting on Safeguards and Disability in Washington on April 04, 2013. This Focus group meeting was also attended by three of DPI’s representatives.

As part of the Human Rights Defenders Project, DPI-Jamaica set up the HRD Committee and met for the first time on February 27, 2013. The Committee comprised of representatives from different DPOs and from Combined Disabilities Association (DPI-Jamaica).

The committee discussed various issues ranging from Project activities comprising of surveys for persons with disabilities and DPOs, Milennium Development Goals and cases of human rights violations in Jamaica.

The committee will be meeting next on March 13, 2013.

On 23 September 2013, the UN General Assembly will hold a High-level Meeting on disability and development, with the overarching theme "The way forward: a disability-inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond", at UN Headquarters in New York.

To ensure that the post-2015 agenda is inclusive of disability, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs in collaboration with UNICEF held an online moderated consultation to gather views from a broad range of stakeholders on how to include disability in the post-2015 development framework, in order to contribute to the ongoing work for the High-level Meeting.

Steve Estey from DPI was appointed as the Global Coordinator for the Online Consultations on disability inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond.

Light of the World is organizing a campaign called SAY YES TO INCLUSION ahead of the UN High Level meeting on Disability and Development in September 2013.

Individuals and organizations around the world are invited to say YES to Inclusion by making a video or photograph of themselves making the YES sign in their sign language. The collected material will be consolidated into a short spot with key messages to be shown at the UN High Level meeting.

DPI has collaborated with Light of the World as an implementing partner for this campaign. Many of DPI's members have sent their contributions which can be viewed here. These are also available on DPI's Facebook page which can be viewed here.

Here is what you can do to join in the campaign:

1. Email us your photograph/video at secretariat.dpi(at)gmail[dot]com. Do mention your Name, Organization and Country.
2. Visit the website and add your name to the campaign.
3. Tweet with your message about inclusion using the hashtag #Yestoinclusion.

JONAPWD (DPI-Nigeria) has appointed an 11-members committee, led by Rilwan Abdullahi to sensitize people living with disabilities on their civic responsibilities and rights and to ensure total participation of its members during elections.

Engr Augustine Onwuamaegbu, National President of Persons with Disability Initiative Nigeria urged the National Electoral Commission to evolve modalities that will accord persons with disabilities more time during voter registration as well as during the actual voting period to ensure total participation.

The World Bank has initiated a two-year review process (2012-2014) to overhaul its environmental and social safeguard policies. These policies symbolize core values of the institution and are the cornerstone of the Bank's efforts to protect people and their environment and to ensure sustainable development outcomes.

The review process involves In-country consultations with Multi stake holders and government representatives in different parts of the world. Additionally, the World Bank has also scheduled a one-day focus group meeting on Disability in Washington on April 04, 2013. The meeting will be attended by a limited number of DPO representatives.

Moctar Ba, Chairperson of DPI-Mali will be one of the representatives to attend this high level meeting with the World Bank on the Safeguard review process.

The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, also known as VDPA, is a human rights declaration adopted at the World Conference on Human Rights on June 25, 1993 in Vienna, Austria. A very important outcome of this Declaration was the creation of the The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Human Rights Council convened a high-level panel discussion to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (VDPA), with a focus on its implementation, its achievements and challenges and celebrate the achievements of the OHCHR.

The panel brought together different people from various backgrounds with complementary perspectives on the VDPA, including high-level representatives, who were present in Vienna in 1993, representatives of mechanisms created at the World Conference, and new human rights actors. The panellists in their presentations highlighted the main achievements of the VDPA and all its developments since the adoption in 1993.

The interactive discussion was divided into two segments – Presentations by the Panellists and Questions and comments from the floor (Seats reserved for representatives of non-governmental organizations).

The ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) by Albania on 11 February 2013, brought a total of 128 States Parties to the CRPD, while the Optional Protocol (OP) now has a total of 76 ratifications. Cambodia has signed but not ratified the OP.

The number of signatures to the CRPD is 155 while the OP has 91 signatures.

To access the complete list of signatories and States Parties:

• CRPD
• OP

DPI, supported by International Disability Alliance (IDA), organized a 2 day workshop in Mauritius, on 21st and 22nd February, 2013. The objective of the workshop was primarily to expose DPOs from Mauritius to the concept of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and to motivate them to submit a Stakeholders' Report on Disability for Mauritius' upcoming UPR.

The workshop was attended by around 22 participants representing many DPOs. The workshop was facilitated by Shivani Gupta of DPI-India and Ellen Walker of IDA.

Javed Abidi, Chairperson of DPI, was one of the 8 Ashoka Fellows chosen from across the world to present their ideas on 'globalising' their work at the Ashoka Globaliser Campaign on February 16 and 17 in Vienna, Austria.

Abidi presented his strategy of leveraging DPI to create a strong platform for voices from the global South in the disability movement. DPI is the world's only cross-disability global DPO and has an unparalleled reach in more than 130 countries across 5 regions of the world. A significant number of these members are from the developing countries.

Javed Abidi, Chairperson of DPI, was an invited speaker at the second Zero Project Conference organised by the Essl Foundation and the World Future Council on February 18 and 19 in Vienna, Austria. This year's Zero Project Conference was on the issue of 'Employment'. Abidi stressed on the need of a holistic approach towards employment for people with disabilities that looks at the issue of education and accessibility along with employment. A study was conducted a few months back and as many as 82 DPI MNAs participated in this study.

To view Report

DPI-India organized the first ever National Convention for Youth with Disabilities (NCYD) on 7th and 8th February in New Delhi. More than 50 students with disabilities from some of the top colleges and universities from across the country participated in this Convention. This prestigious list included IIT Guwahati, IIT Roorkee, NID, ILS Pune, IIMC, among others. The idea of this Convention was to get together some of the brightest young disabled people and expose them to various issues related to disability. The Convention saw speakers from an array of domains come together to address the students – Disabled Activists, Politicians, Corporate representatives and Media professionals.

The Global Partnership for Disability and Development (GPDD) is a multi stakeholder organization that aims to accelerate the integration of disability issues in development efforts. Its constituencies include Disabled People's Organizations (DPOs), government ministries, bilateral and multilateral donors, United Nations (UN) agencies, NGOs, national and international development organizations, and other organizations.

Recently, elections were held for the advisory board of GPDD, where DPI has been elected as one of the Organizations. The other two positions have also been taken by two of DPI's Affiliates – Disabled Women in Africa (DIWA) and Western African Federation of the Disabled (WAFOD).

DPI currently has a presence in over 130 countries spread across 5 regions - Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America and the Caribbean.

One of DPI's endeavors is to strengthen its presence with good and credible networks of Disabled People's Organizations not only in its existing regions but also in other neglected regions such as the Commonwealth of Independent States. As a fulfillment of both these factors, National Assembly of People with Disabilities (NAPD) from Ukraine had been granted Provisional Membership with DPI.

NAPD is also a Project Partner for the Human Rights Defenders Project. More information on this Project

DPI currently has a presence in over 130 countries spread across 5 regions - Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America and the Caribbean.

In its mandate, DPI strives not only to strengthen its presence in the existing regions, but also to form partnerships in neglected regions such as the Member States of the Arab League. As a step in moving towards this direction, Disabled Without Borders Organization (DWBO), headed by Mr. Mohammed Barakat, has been granted Provisional Membership with DPI.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently held its Executive Board meeting in Geneva from January 21-29, 2013. The World Report on Disability was an item of discussion on January 22, 2013 at the EB meeting, where Rachel Kachaje, Vice-Chair presented her statement.

Kachaje appreciated the increased attention WHO has been giving to persons with disabilities and strongly supported the resolution. Some key suggestions for inclusions given by her were to mainstream persons with disabilities throughout WHO's work ; greater attention to be provided to issues like violence against persons with disabilities, access to information and the availability and affordability of technology.

The 'Building Advocacy Capacity in Africa' Project aims to strengthen a genuine cross-disability and inclusive disability movement, using the human rights approach, and building leadership amongst persons with disability for advocacy.

The project, with its initiation on January 1, 2013 is being implemented in Malawi and Burundi and will include fact finding missions and need assessment surveys to understand the current disability scenario, existing gaps and the needs of persons with disabilities.

The one year project will also include training workshops on understanding and implementing CRPD, roles and functions of DPOs, advocacy and human rights.

The West African Federation of the Disabled (WAFOD) organized a Sub Regional Assembly on 8th-9th December 2012, in Senegal, Dakar.

The new DPI Executive since their election in Durban, October 2011, made it a mission to reignite the disability movement in Africa, especially in West Africa. A previous trip to Cotonou, Benin by DPI Chairperson led to the formation of a Caretaker Committee whose mandate was to organize elections for the region and choose new office bearers to take the way forward.

The historic elections led to the selection of a young emerging leader Alzouma Maiga Idriss from Niger as WAFOD Chairperson. The other office bearers of WAFOD are: 1st Vice Chair – Ba Moctar (Mali) ; 2nd Vice Chair - Isatou Sanyang (Gambia) ; Secretary – Ayassou Komivi (Togo) and Treasurer – David Cardozo (Cape Verde).

The ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) by Cambodia on 20 December 2012, brought a total of 127 States Parties to the CRPD, while the Optional Protocol (OP) now has a total of 76 ratifications. Cambodia has signed but not ratified the OP.

The number of signatures to the CRPD is 155 while the OP has 91 signatures.

To access the complete list of signatories and States Parties:

• CRPD
• OP

The Zero Project, first launched by the Essl Foundation in 2009, in collaboration with the World Future Council and with the help of Disabled People's International (DPI), undertook a significant review of how various countries are addressing some of the most important issues centred around the right of persons with disabilities to work on an equal basis with others.

A questionnaire, based around Article 27 of the CRPD on Work and Employment was filled by more than 80 of DPI members from all 5 regions of Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America and the Caribbean.

Click here to view The final report

India recently hosted the 1st Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) World Congress – the first ever global meeting on community-based rehabilitation. This event was held at Agra from 26th-28th November, 2012.

Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) is the strategy for a cross-sectoral, human right-based approach to inclusive development. This approach targets and involves people with disabilities, their families and their organizations as primary stakeholders.

In light of the event, DPI undertook a study on the WHO CBR Guidelines to formulate a final position paper. More than 80 of DPI members took part in the study and the final paper was made public at the CBR Congress in Agra. The paper can be read here.

DPI, supported by ADD Bangladesh, organized a 3 day workshop in Dhaka, from 28th September to 30th September, 2012. The objective of the workshop was primarily to expose DPOs from Bangladesh to the concept of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and to motivate them to submit a Stakeholders' Report on Disability for Bangladesh's upcoming UPR.

The workshop was attended by around 40 participants representing many DPOs. DPIs Chairperson, Javed Abidi and Human Rights Officer (HRO) Sherzodbek Sharipov were also present while Ellen Walker of IDA facilitated the workshop.

Disabled People's International (DPI) organized a Side Event at the Civil Society Forum ahead of the 5th Conference of State Parties in New York on September 11, 2012. The session was opened by Ms. Judith Heumann, Special Advisor on International Disability Rights, US Department of State. Mr. Shuaib Chalklen, Special Rapporteur on Disability chaired the Session and Ms. Charlotte McClain-Nhlapo, Coordinator, Office for Disability and Inclusive Development, USAID co-chaired it.

The event saw an eclectic mix of panelists from all across the world representing different organizations and stakeholders. An emphasis on including people with disabilities from the Global South, especially women and girls with disabilities and those with psychosocial disabilities, in the social and economic framework was made.

The fact that there is a need to break the myth that the Global South does not have the ‘capacity’ to participate and engage in the process of development planning was highlighted.

What came across most strongly was that people with disabilities need to be at the forefront of the movement. It is therefore an onus on the part of the INGOs and donors and international agencies, who are working on disability, to employ people with disabilities from the Global South in decision making roles. Unless that transition takes place, the paradigm shift will never occur. And, ‘Nothing About Us, Without Us’ will just remain that, a slogan!