Promoting the rights of Children with disabilities innocenti digest no

“nothing about us without us”
The effectiveness and relevance of disability-related 
policies depends on consulting and actively engaging 
persons with disabilities, including children and their 
families, in the policy process.
Organizations representing persons with disabilities 
have had a significant influence on national policy 
and legal environments. A recent WHO review of 
disability issues in 26 African countries found that at 
least 22 countries had at least one such organization. 
The majority of these organizations were involved in 
policy development in collaboration with the national 
government.
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In South Africa, it was successful 
lobbying on the part of persons with disabilities that 
resulted in the inclusion of disability in the equality 
section of the country’s Constitution. The initiation of 
a successful pilot project for the inclusion of disabled 
children in regular schools in Lesotho was also due 
in large measure to the initiative of the national 
organization of persons with disabilities. Given the 
importance of these organizations, it is essential that 
all groups concerned with disability are represented, 
and that the needs of all and not just some children 
with disabilities are represented.
In countries where there are many organizations 
representing different groups of persons with 
disabilities, the creation of an umbrella group 
empowered to speak for all has proved to be a 
powerful vehicle for change. At the level of the UN, 
for example, such coordination is provided by the 
International Disability Council; the major international 
NGOs were also members of the ad hoc Committee 
that produced an agreed draft of the Convention on 
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. These NGOs 
are also members of the Expert Committee that 
developed the Standard Rules and that continues to 
advise the Special Rapporteur on Disability.