UN Baseline Study on Disability Inclusion

Donor: Disability Rights Advocacy Fund • Partner: UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and UN Secretary General’s Office • Timeframe: May 2018 – Dec. 2018

Strengthening the United Nations (UN) System to Make It Inclusive of Persons with Disabilities

The UN Special Rapporteur on Disability engaged IDP to work with a transdisciplinary group of legal scholars, policy experts, and civil society groups to assess the inclusion of persons with disabilities across all UN programs and policies. Our study was designed to support an evidence-based approach to the preparation of a policy, action plan, and accountability framework to strengthen both systemwide accessibility and mainstream the rights of persons with disabilities across the UN system. The study served as the baseline to inform and assist key stakeholders and decision-makers within the UN system to improve its capacity to implement the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and to meet the Sustainable Development Goals from a disability-rights perspective. 

Project Highlights

  • Collected and synthesized data at both headquarters and country-level using a multimethod approach, including a desk review, institutional assessments, key informant interviews, consultations with organizations representing persons with disabilities, and analysis of data gathered by reliable third-party sources
  • Compiled a comprehensive internal report and agency-specific one-pagers for the UN Special Rapporteur to develop into infographics and presentations to brief the UN Secretary-General’s Senior Management Group
  • Informed the development of a systemwide policy, action plan, and accountability framework aligned with the CRPD and the 2030 Agenda’s “Leave No One Behind” promise