Rehabilitation International (RI Global) is an international disability rights organization with member organizations in every region of the world. [1] The RI secretariat is located in New York City. [2]
Founded in 1922, [3] RI is a network of people with disabilities, service providers, government agencies, academics, researchers and advocates working to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities. A major focus of its activity since 1999 has been establishing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. [4]
In the late 1960s, RI created the ubiquitous International Symbol of Access, featuring a stylized person in a wheelchair on a blue background. [5]
RI maintains commissions of specialists and experts on various issues in disability. Represented by the RI Chairs and Vice Chairs, the commissions are thematic work groups which assist in developing and expanding program activities in accordance with RI's strategic goals. [6]
RI commissions include:
RI works with its members, partners, experts and regional leaders [7] to create and carry out projects with the following objectives across the globe:
Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" and "indirect access" meaning compatibility with a person's assistive technology.
The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all people with disabilities.
The World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (WNUSP) is an international organisation representing, and led by what it terms "survivors of psychiatry". As of 2003, over 70 national organizations were members of WNUSP, based in 30 countries. The network seeks to protect and develop the human rights, disability rights, dignity and self-determination of those labeled 'mentally ill'.
Accessible tourism is the ongoing endeavor to ensure tourist destinations, products, and services are accessible to all people, regardless of their physical or intellectual limitations, disabilities or age. It encompasses publicly and privately owned and operated tourist locations. The goal of accessible tourism is to create inclusivity of all including those traveling with children, people with disabilities, as well as seniors. This allows those with access requirements to be able to function as an independent using products following the universal design principle, a variety of services, and different environments.
The Philippines' National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) is the national government agency mandated to formulate policies and coordinate the activities of all agencies, whether public or private, concerning disability issues and concerns. As such, the NCWDP is the lead agency tasked to steer the course of program development for persons with disabilities and the delivery of services to the sector.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international human rights treaty of the United Nations intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. Parties to the convention are required to promote, protect, and ensure the full enjoyment of human rights by persons with disabilities and ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy full equality under the law. The Convention serves as a major catalyst in the global disability rights movement enabling a shift from viewing persons with disabilities as objects of charity, medical treatment and social protection towards viewing them as full and equal members of society, with human rights. The convention was the first U.N. human rights treaty of the twenty-first century.
The International Symbol of Access (ISA), also known as the (International) Wheelchair Symbol, denotes areas where access has been improved, mostly for those with disabilities. It consists of a usually blue square overlaid in white with a stylized image of a person in a wheelchair. It is maintained as an international standard, ISO 7001 image of the International Commission on Technology and Accessibility (ICTA), a committee of Rehabilitation International (RI).
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a United Nations body of 18 experts that meets two times a year in Geneva to consider the reports submitted by 164 UN member states on their compliance with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and to examine individual petitions concerning 94 States Parties to the Optional Protocol.
Social engagement refers to one's degree of participation in a community or society.
South Africans with disabilities constitute a sizeable proportion of the population, and their status in society is extremely varied in a developing nation with socio-economic inequality and a history of apartheid. Wealthy city dwellers have access to a wide range of assistance, whereas the poor struggle for even the basic necessities of life.
Diane Kingston, is a human rights defender and international development specialist. She is the Global Technical Lead for Disability Inclusion and Mainstreaming at Sightsavers
The European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) is a membership international not-for-profit association (AISBL) under Belgian law. In 2013 it established its Permanent Secretariat in Brussels bringing together National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) from across the wider European region. Formerly known as European Group of National Human Rights Institutions, ENNHRI has been actively working in the field of promotion and protection of human rights in wider Europe for 15 years. ENNHRI essentially assists in the establishment and accreditation of European NHRIs, coordinates the exchange of information and best practices among its members, facilitates capacity building and training, engages with international and regional mechanisms for protection and promotion of human right and intervenes on legal and policy developments in Europe.
In Japan, a person with a disability is defined as: "a person whose daily life or life in society is substantially limited over the long term due to a physical disability or mental disability". Japan ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 20 January 2014.
Reliable information about disability in North Korea, like other information about social conditions in the country, is difficult to find. As of 2016, North Korea is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Ola Abu Alghaib is a disability rights activist focusing on guaranteeing full integration in society for women with disabilities in the Middle East.
People with disabilities in Sri Lanka typically face significant stigma and discrimination. The main causes for disability in Sri Lanka are poor hygiene, lack of medical care, the prevalence of 30 years of war, the aftereffects of the 2004 tsunami, and an increase in accidents.
Singapore does not have a formal definition of disability, but has been making changes in regards to the visibility of people with disability and also with increasing accessibility of all areas of the country. Early in the country's history, human rights issues for people with disabilities took second place to the need to secure independence and building the economy. Singapore signed on to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in 2013 and coordinates the Enabling Masterplan with both government and non governmental organisations.
Humberto Insolera is a deaf Italian politician, academic and advocate for the deaf and people with disabilities.
Under Italian Law 104/1992, "disability" is defined as a loss of the ability of the person to perform basic daily activities unaided."
Climate change has a disproportionate effect on individuals with disabilities, both directly and indirectly. Individuals with disabilities are more likely to experience greater effects of climate change on humans when compared to those without disabilities. Despite this, and despite the fact that disabled people make up more than 15% of the global population, they have had minimal input and involvement in the decision-making process surrounding responses to climate change. Typically, disabled people are the most likely to be negatively affected by any form of emergency, whether it be an immediate emergency like a flood or tornado or a gradual emergency like rising sea levels, due to a lack of access to emergency resources and the difficulties imposed by limited mobility. Disabled people are also more adversely affected by climate change because a disproportionate number of disabled people live in poverty, and people who live in poverty are inherently more at risk due to climate change.