Section 5.1 - Taking Action at the Country & Community Level
Because the goal of monitoring is to bring improvements to the daily lives of persons with disabilities, strategies to achieve these changes should begin at the community and country level with attempts to influence people to make changes that will impact whether persons with disabilities enjoy their rights (e.g. influencing governments, employers, owners of private businesses, educators, etc.).
Here are some ways that DPOs can take action in their own countries and communities:
Taking Action at the Country and Community Level
- Lobby for changes in laws, policies and programs
- Bringing a legal claim
- Raising awareness through public education and action
Taking Action Internationally
-
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Status Reporting Process
- Writing a parallel report
- Supporting an
- Taking Action Under Other Human Rights Treaties
1. Lobbying for Changes in Laws, Policies and Programs:
Information that is collected through monitoring highlights the changes that should be made in a country’s laws, policies and programs to improve how well those laws, policies and programs protect, promote and fulfill the rights of persons with disabilities – for example:
- getting rid of (repealing) any existing laws, policies and programs that violate human rights
- changing the wording (amending) or interpretation of existing laws, policies and programs to make them protect, promote and fulfill human rights better
- creating new laws, policies and programs to fill the gaps
By providing facts that show the problems with existing laws, and programs, monitoring information can persuade people that change is needed. By also providing concrete examples of ways in which governments are doing a good job of ensuring rights, monitoring can provide the basis for practices that are learned from and shared.
Monitoring reports can be sent to government officials and meetings can be held to discuss solutions that can bring particular human rights issues into the political spotlight. This is called ‘lobbying’ or ‘advocacy’.
Article 33(1) of the UN requires that each country that has ratified the convention designate one or more focal points within government (for example, a particular office or department) to be responsible for issues that relate to the rights of persons with disabilities. Meeting with people working in these offices or departments is a good place for DPOs to start when trying to convince governments to make changes.
Article 33(3) of the UN also requires that persons with disabilities and their representative organizations be involved in the monitoring process
. This means that disability organizations have a way to demand a seat at the table when issues affecting the rights of person with disabilities are being discussed.
Example
A report from DRPI’s monitoring project in Kenya contains a chapter with evidence-based recommendations to changes to the laws, policies and programs of that country. Here are some of its recommendations:
Mainstreaming disability rights in public service:
The lack of a constitutional provision that directs government bodies to mainstream disability issues needs to be addressed.
a) The government should mainstream disability issues by incorporating information about the human rights of disabled people in all training curricula for its officers. This would allow individual officers to be responsive to reports of human rights violations by disabled people.
b) The government should incorporate disability in its national development strategy.
Legislation:
c) The Persons with Disability Act 2003 (PDA) needs to be amended so that it is no longer anchored on the Standard Rules of Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities but on current international and regional human rights conventions. As well, the penalties in the act should be more severe in order to prevent disability discrimination.
Making these recommendations in the monitoring report is very important. But, it is also important to take the next step and make sure that government officials and others who have the power to influence changes in laws, policies and programs (for example, media representatives, members of various political parties, labour unions, etc.) receive the report and have the recommendations explained to them.
2. Bringing a Legal Claim
Through careful monitoring, situations may be exposed in which the government or private persons are violating the rights of one or more persons with disabilities. Sometimes in such a case it will be possible to bring a legal action to address the violation(s), penalize those who are responsible and get compensation.
Each country will have different agencies that hear complaints about human rights violations. This will depend on the legal and political system in the country. Some examples of possible agencies include:
- courts of law
-
national human rights institutions, national disability rights institutions or other independent national bodies with the power to hear claims about violations of disability rights (UN, Article 33(2) requires governments to create
A framework to promote, protect and monitor implementation of the UN, including one or more independent procedures
. - other administrative tribunals with the power to make decisions about human rights violations in particular areas of life (for example, a tribunal making decisions about employment and the workplace).
3. Raising Awareness through Public Education and Action:
Monitoring information can also be used to raise awareness about current human rights abuses, dispel myths and negative attitudes toward persons with disabilities and gather public support to prevent further violations. Many rights violations faced by persons with disabilities stem from negative attitudes in society. Possible public education and action can include, for example:
- public forums and information sessions
- letter writing campaigns to government and other officials who can influence change;
- public demonstrations and protests;
- postings on websites, listservs, blogs and social networks;
- letters and press releases to the news media.
The aim of these activities is to reach as many people as possible. To be effective, any public campaign should involve the communication tools that are commonly used in your community and country (e.g. radio, television, newspapers, internet, word of mouth, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). It is important to be sure that information is accessible (e.g. using various formats – print, Braille, electronic; ensuring sign language interpretation; choosing locations for events that are fully accessible, etc.).
The way the monitoring data will be used depends on the DPO’s agenda for change and the decisions it makes about the most effective way to reach that goal.