DCDD 5th anniversary
Briefly we describe here 5 years of DCDD in results, as published in DCDD newsletter 11. Proud to have reached the age of five, we held a meeting on the 8th of September at Hogeschool Leiden to celebrate this anniversary. It was here, in this very same place, in late 1999, that a small group of people first met to discuss the founding of DCDD which happened just one year later. Since that time, DCDD has grown to become a coalition of 200 individuals and organisations from the disability and services sectors and development cooperation.
Celebration
Around 120 people convened in Leiden to celebrate DCDD’s first milestone. Spijker en Hamer, a theatrical company, linked the presentations by means of cabaret acts and sketches and, in interactive sessions, invited the participants to write greeting cards for DCDD’s future. Josephine Sinyo from Kenya was the keynote speaker. She is the Chair of the United Disabled People of Kenya (UDPK) and a former Member of Parliament. We are honoured that she is also a member of DCDD’s International Advisory Council. Ms. Sinyo inspired the participants with a fiery discourse about disability as a human rights issue. She exhorted Dutch participants with disabilities to be proud of being able to live with a disability. She noted that the situation for disabled people in the Netherlands seems to be deteriorating, whilst progress is being made in her country.
Results of 5 years
The anniversary was an occasion for presenting 5 years of DCDD activities in terms of results: what has DCDD achieved and what hasn’t it achieved? The great challenge for DCDD is to find the right strategic alliances, to be able to cooperate more effectively for an inclusive development cooperation policy.
DCDD has grown considerably in five years’ time, not only in terms of membership, but also, for example, with regard to the dissemination of information and the building of networks. A platform has been created where dialogue and debate can take place and where all sectors, not least people with disabilities themselves, can voice their ideas and be listened to. A quarter of DCDD’s members are actively involved in volunteer groups. More than 1,000 people worldwide subscribe to the DCDD newsletter, whilst the DCDD website, www.dcdd.nl, has 200 visitors a day. Two brochures have been published in the DCDD publication series 'Towards an inclusive development cooperation policy'. People know how to reach DCDD for information about the interface of disability and development cooperation. In short, DCDD has succeeded in profiling itself as an organisation which provides specialised information.
Whether DCDD has been successful vis-à-vis development cooperation organisations, the main target group of its activities, is more complicated to assess. One achievement is that general development organisations have become aware of the fact that they pay too little attention to disability; a change from 'unconscious lack of attention' to 'conscious lack of attention'. But some development cooperation organisations are now prepared to review their policies in respect of people with disabilities. That is progress, because - as a DCDD study carried out some years ago revealed - in most of these organisations disability is not a subject of policy development.
Government policy
Until a few years ago, people with disabilities were invisible in the policies of the Dutch government. From replies given by the Minister for Development Cooperation to questions in Parliament, it became clear last year that, within the framework of Dutch development cooperation policy, they are regarded as part of the category of vulnerable people. Quoting the Minister: "I will continue to pay attention to this group of poor people by ‘mainstreaming’ in the sectors of education, health and human rights." There is some progress in that people with disabilities have been appointed, but there is stagnation too, in that the word ‘mainstreaming’ can mean a lot or a little. Recognition as being vulnerable is one thing, visibility is another. For example, no indicators for mainstreaming have been formulated, so that everything remains rather vague. Neither have any specific measures been taken. An important reason for this is that the Ministry does not want policies for target groups anymore; so, no specific measures for specific groups of people.
DCDD advocates an inclusive policy. An inclusive society can be described as a society in which all people, including disabled people, have equal access to rights and opportunities. Ideally, an inclusive policy takes the shape of a twin-track approach: DCDD is convinced that the integration of people with disabilities can only be effective if specific attention is given to, and specific supportive measures are taken for, disabled people living in disadvantaged conditions.
Orientation towards ‘the South’
In the end, DCDD is interested in the results achieved in the 'South'; specifically, whether the position of people with disabilities has actually improved. DCDD’s work is however aimed at Dutch society and no money is spent directly on activities in the South. The effect of DCDD’s work on the position of disabled people in the South is difficult to assess. In the next few years DCDD wants to become more important specifically for Southern disability organisations and at the beginning of 2006, DCDD will start an international lobbying venture for this purpose.
The presentations held at the 5th anniversary celebration on the 8th of September can be downloaded from www.dcdd.nl?2626.