Disability Rights Monitoring Training and Seminar on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in Vancouver

Members of the Vancouver Disability Community attend Seminar on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

From May 21st to 28th, DRPI Canada held another training event in Vancouver, one of DRPI Canada's four monitoring sites. The aim was to train a team of people, all of whom have disabilities, to be human rights monitors for people with disabilities. During the training, DRPI Canada benefitted greatly from the strong support, expertise, and passion of its local partner, the British Columbia Coalition of People with Disabilities (BCCPD). As a result of this close collaboration, participants described the fully accessible training sessions as amazingly organized, [with] everything going remarkably smoothly where they unanimously felt fully included and treated well and equally. DRPI Canada would like to thank again its partner, especially Sam Bradd, Administrative Director for the BCCPD and Vancouver Monitoring Site Coordinator, and Jane Dyson, BCCPD Executive Director, for their hard work and dedication to making this event a success.

The training began with an overview of local human rights issues by Frances Kelly from the Community Legal Assistance Society, followed by a workshop on economic, social and cultural rights funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage. During subsequent days, an experiential learning approach equipped participants with knowledge and skills to interview their peers about their stories of human rights violations, to obtain free and informed consent, and to protect the confidentiality of the information collected.

Monitor Lorraine Irlam receives her certificate from Facilitator Normand Boucher.

At the end of the training and after many opportunities to practice their skills, the monitors received certificates as a symbolic recognition of their valuable participation and personal commitment to engage in such challenging work. They all proclaimed that they were ready for the challenges that lay ahead with the knowledge that their important work will bring unheard stories to light. More information on the Vancouver training can be found on the BCCPD website.