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In-Depth Information
donations (McEwan and Butler, 2007). Community-based rehabilita-
tionprojectshavesoughttoshifttowardsamorecommunity-development
approach in recent years and increasingly aim to empower disabled
people and facilitate their participation in the development process.
Organizations led by disabled people in the global South have played
an important role in collective advocacy and lobbying for the represen-
tation of disabled people in all stages of the development process at the
national and international levels. For example, the National Union of
Disabled People of Uganda (NUDIPU) lobbied for the inclusion of disa-
bled people at all levels of political administration (Mwenda et al.,
2009). As a result, disabled people have achieved a higher level of
political representation in Uganda than in any other country (McEwan
and Butler, 2007). International non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), coalitions and networks of disabled people, such as Disabled
People's International (established in 1981), have helped to strengthen
national disabled people's organizations and facilitate collective advo-
cacy for disabled people's rights at the global level.
Growing recognition of disabled people's human rights led to the
introduction of the UN Standard Rules on the Equalization of
Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities in 1994, which aimed to
facilitate participation and equality for 'persons with disabilities'.
The rules were not legally enforceable, however, leading to calls for a
specific convention that focused on the rights of disabled people. The
UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (which
entered into force in 2008) is broadly informed by the social model of
disability. Disability and impairment are not explicitly defined, but
'persons with disabilities' include: 'those who have long-term physi-
cal, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction
with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participa-
tion in society on an equal basis with others' (United Nations, 2010b).
Key tenets of the Convention are disabled people's rights to participa-
tion and inclusion, non-discrimination and accessibility (see www.
un.org/disabilities). While the emphasis is on mainstreaming disabil-
ity into all development activities, such as Poverty Reduction
Strategy Papers and the MDGs, it is recognized that disability spe-
cific measures may be necessary to 'accelerate or achieve de facto
equality of persons with disabilities' (United Nations, 2010b). The
UN Secretariat for the Convention acknowledges that the MDGs will
not be achieved if persons with disabilities are not included. Yet
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