Disability Inclusive Development: Moving beyond data collectors and trainers for OPDs.

• In Event: Voice and Ownership: Partnering with Organizations of Persons with Disabilities in Education Programming

Proposal

Since the onset of the disability rights movement, the guiding principle and mantra "nothing about us, without us" has called for the inclusion and representation of persons with disabilities in all matters that impact them. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) recognized this principle by requiring that development programs be "inclusive of and accessible to persons with disabilities" (2008). The call for collaboration amongst stakeholders and the inclusion of persons with disabilities within development activities have resulted in the concept of disability-inclusive development (DID). This concept calls for persons with and without disabilities to have equal access to participate as actors in development projects. However, persons with disabilities have historically been marginalized as both actors and beneficiaries within development programming.

As donors and implementers strive to be more inclusive within programming, it is critical to engage persons with disabilities and ensure they have a seat at the table. Development projects often partner with civil society organizations that are majority-led by persons with disabilities, or Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), to act as representative decision-makers and actors for the disability community. While there appears to be an increasing number of programs that include persons with disabilities as beneficiaries, less is known about the role of OPDs actors within programs. Power dynamics between OPDs and implementing partners can result in inequitable power dynamics and decision-making within programming. Results from the International Disability Alliance's 1st and 2nd Global Survey on OPD participation also revealed consultations with OPDs are occurring more frequently; however, OPDs reported engagement is insufficient and even tokenistic (2022).

Under the USAID-funded Multi-country Study on Inclusive Education (MCSIE), evaluators spoke with OPD partners of the evaluated projects to learn about their participation and role within an activity. Interviews and focus groups with OPDs revealed that their role in the evaluated projects and past development activities has traditionally been that of data collectors or trainers. OPDs also shared that their reach of influence within programming is limited due to a lack of involvement in decision-making processes and budgetary constraints. Using interview data from the MCSIE evaluation and other leading research, audience members will be provided with feedback from OPDs on considerations for future partnerships, including involvement in program design, contracting, budgeting, technical and operational skill development, and monitoring of interventions. Shifting the role of OPDs within the project cycle to one that reaches beyond the role of data collectors and trainers and involving them in decision-making processes is a means to protest current inequitable practices and create meaningful partnerships that honor the knowledge, expertise, and lived experience of local stakeholders with disabilities.

Author

• Ashley Rae Stone, Inclusive Development Partners