The Role of International NGOs in Global Disability Rights

By Andrew Hazard

International Non-Governmental Organizations, or NGOs, are typically nonprofit organizations that operate independently of any governments. NGOs have played a vital role in various global projects pertaining to social issues, humanitarian concerns, the environment and many other areas since the concept of an NGO was first formalized in 1945 by the United Nations Charter. While less discussed, NGOs have also been known to address issues relating to the rights of disabled individuals around the world. This article will examine the role that NGOs play in advancing global disability rights and what benefits those efforts have produced.

Due to their impairments, people with disabilities face many different challenges around the globe, especially in less developed nations. In addition to generally experiencing worse health than non-disabled individuals, disabled people are often discriminated against by having their education or employment denied. According to a 2011 report by the World Health Organization, this has resulted in them being more likely to live in poverty than people who are not disabled [1]. The United Nations has long been committed to ensuring the rights of disabled people, as exemplified by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2006, and other related endeavors. Even as individual countries enact their own policy to provide aid and protection, prejudice against disabled people remains an international issue, prompting the involvement of NGOs to assist them.

The International Disability Alliance (IDA) is one such NGO that helps advance global disability rights. Composed of eight global organizations and six regional ones, the IDA advocates at the UN for greater global inclusivity for disabled people, as well as the organizations they participate in [2]. The alliance directly coordinates its promotion of disabled individuals’ rights with the UN’s efforts to further human rights as a whole and foster sustainable development. The IDA also provides support to disability organizations via training programs that improve their capacity to advocate for disabled people in less developed countries. This allows them to more effectively propose policy to governments that introduces positive social change, while also making them more capable of holding governments accountable. In order to improve their efforts more, the IDA completed an NGOsource “equivalency determination process” in 2014, which allowed the alliance to secure additional funding from its largest donors, most of which are in the United States. This funding accounts for 15 percent of IDA’s total budget [2]. This additional financing has allowed the IDA to invest in advocacy and organizational operations in over 90 different countries around the world. 

The IDA is also known for working with other NGOs, such as the International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC). Together, the two NGOs released a policy paper in 2015 which outlined how development financing could include individuals with disabilities. The aim of this was to push for accessibility for everyone to become a priority when building infrastructure and providing services [3]. They argued this would be ethically and economically beneficial as it would give disabled people greater access to public life, while also reducing spending on extra accommodations for such individuals. The paper’s language is also in line with the United Nations CRPD, stressing the importance of inclusivity in all levels of society to truly make a difference, especially when it comes to funding sustainable development. Both organizations even encourage the active participation of disabled people in decision making processes, particularly fiscal policies relating to the implementation of greater access.

As shown by the efforts of the IDA and IDDC, NGOs operate in collaboration with governments, often focusing on areas where it is difficult for the government to take action or enlightening the government to the people’s specific needs. In Nigeria, for example, NGOs frequently operate to assist the estimated 25 million disabled people living there, roughly 15% of the national population [1]. The Nigerians with Disability Decree of 1993 guaranteed disabled individuals equal access to education, employment, housing, health services, transportation and other rights, but due to the inability of the government to provide services equally, NGOs step in to raise awareness of these rights. NGOs are even directly consulted by the government when it comes to specific areas of policy. The 2016 implementation of the National Policy on Inclusive Education involved consultation with various NGOs specializing in the education of disabled individuals [1]. 

When it comes to health concerns, NGOs provide services to disabled individuals, helping to advocate for their medical, social, and psychological needs. This advocacy can also apply to the individual being able to access their health information. In the area of social welfare, NGOs may provide services such as mobility devices, eye tests and eye glasses for the visually impaired, medicine, food, clothing, shelter, transportation, etc. Some NGOs focus on building a disabled person’s skills through training programs, allowing them to generate their own income. Other organizations may focus on rehabilitative measures like building and improving community and health centers to provide lasting accessibility and greater convenience for disabled people. One example of this is NGOs that specialize in facilitating participation in elections [1]. This extends to a wide array of services, such as transportation to polling places and making ballots more legible to visually impaired people.

International NGOs provide a wide array of benefits to disabled people on a global scale. NGOs collaborate with governments who lack the resources to support their disabled populations, all while advancing the noble goals set by the United Nations. They provide funding for medical and social services as a way of improving the health of disabled people. They offer transportation and fund the implementation of public accessibility measures. They even get the people affected most by policy changes involved in the process to ensure that their needs are properly met. These organizations are extremely important in securing the rights and improving the lives of disabled individuals all across the earth. While changes made aren’t always perfect, they do lean in a positive direction, and NGOs specializing in disabilities raise affected people to greater heights than they would be otherwise.

References

[1] Amirize, Annette. (2024). The Role of NGOs in Advancing The Rights of People with Disabilities. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/role-ngos-advancing-rights-people-disabilities-annette-amirize--stjpf/.

[2] NGOsource. (2017). International Disability Alliance: Supporting the Rights of People with Disabilities Worldwide. NGOsource. https://www.ngosource.org/blog/international-disability-alliance-supporting-the-rights-of-people-with-disabilities-worldwide.

[3] Inclusion Europe. (2015). Disability and development NGOs advocate for inclusion in mobilisation of resources. Inclusion Europe. https://www.inclusion-europe.eu/disability-and-development-ngos-advocate-for-inclusion-in-mobilisation-of-resources/.