Take-aways from DCDD’s learning session
Op 11 april kwamen onze leden en supporters bijeen voor het eerste DCDD-evenement van het jaar - Learning Session: Amplifying Voices of People with Disabilities. Het doel van het evenement was om lessen te delen over verschillende strategieën om mensen met een handicap te ondersteunen in hun lobby en pleiten voor inclusie. Voor welke uitdagingen staan ze? Wat kunnen we doen om hun stemmen te versterken? Lieke Scheewe, de coördinator & beleidsadviseur van DCDD, opende het evenement samen met Gerrit de Vries, voorzitter van DCDD en programmadirecteur bij Leprosy Relief. Verschillende inspirerende cases werden besproken.
In her introductory speech, Lieke highlighted the importance of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on the journey from charity to rights – she emphasized the enormous difference of claiming your rights, rather than asking for a favour. At a very personal level, this gives people with disabilities the acknowledgement that they are worthy as human beings and it provides them with a tool to be very vocal about their rights. In addition, the UN CRPD helps in unifying the disability movement, which is very diverse by nature, and in making linkages with other rights movements, such as the women’s movement. Yet, there are issues preventing people with disabilities from effectively claiming or ‘receiving’ equal rights. When asked, the audience suggested that not knowing their own rights, having the feeling of being second class citizens and a lack of access to public places, are some of the main barriers.
Barrières doorbreken
The first case study presented in the learning session was Barrières doorbreken by Liliane Foundation – the winner of the Impact Challenge Award 2019. Anneke Donker (Organizational Development Adviser at Liliane Foundation) explained, that the aim of Breaking down Barriers was to gather evidence of the effective lobby and advocacy for children with disabilities. The project was put into practice together with the African Studies Centre (Leiden University) as well as with local academics and partner organizations from Sierra Leone, Cameroon and Zambia. During the past three years of the project, 15 theses have been developed. Anneke emphasized that not only the research but also the sharing of those lessons learned via their online platform and accessible ‘research briefs’, has been a crucial part of Breaking down Barriers.
Een van de belangrijkste lessen die zijn geleerd door het onderzoek van Barrières opheffen, was dat advocaten van gehandicapten hun problemen effectiever kunnen uiten wanneer ze hun krachten bundelen met advocaten van andere gemarginaliseerde groepen. Dit inzicht leidde tot de ontwikkeling van een nieuw project genaamd Voices for Inclusion. Dit is een samenwerking tussen Liliane Foundation, Voice en DCDD. Karin Rozendal (leerfacilitator bij Liliane Foundation) legde uit dat Voices for Inclusion bedoeld is om de belangenbehartiging te versterken door cross-learning tussen verschillende gemarginaliseerde groepen in vijf landen te stimuleren. Dit gebeurt door de uitwisseling van beste praktijken en samenwerking tussen deze groepen en aan het einde van het project wordt het beste initiatief beloond.
Communicatie is belangrijk!
The second case study was Light for the World’s action-research Communicatie is belangrijk. Judith Baart (Research and Documentation Specialist at LFTW), described the situation in the province of Pursat, Cambodia, as an area with a high number of disabilities due to land mines. Almost all of the 1171 persons with disabilities interviewed by LFTW’s partner in Pursat expressed that their voice was not heard in the government level. The LFTW research was set to find out why such a gap in communication existed in the area. The results revealed for example that many of the persons with disabilities did not attend the commune and village meetings – places were decisions were made. As a result of the study, commune and village representatives were appointed to represent persons with disabilities in the different levels of decision-making. Additionally, the interviews had an empowering aspect as well – the participants felt that their opinions mattered and felt encouraged to speak out. Because of the research, the local government officials also gained awareness of persons with disabilities within their province and started making more efforts to become inclusive in their communication.
Verander het spel
Finally, was the case study of Verander de Game Academy by Wilde Ganzen. Esther Meester (Program Coordinator at Wilde Ganzen), told the audience that Change the Game Academy uses online courses together with classroom teaching in order to train Self Help Groups, Community Based Organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations in low- and middle-income countries. The trainings focus on local fundraising as well as lobby and advocacy. Wilde Ganzen collaborated with Light for the World to give instruction to the teachers of the Academy on ‘inclusive training facilitation’, to make sure that the trainings are, indeed, inclusive for participants with disabilities. Esther presented the results from Ethiopia as an example of successful training. In Ethiopia, the beliefs that persons with disabilities would not be capable of working were changed: self-help- and farmer-groups opened their doors for meaningful participation and inclusion. One of the success factors was that the trainer from LFTW’s partner had a disability himself, and therefore he was very effective in challenging the assumptions of the Academy teachers. Since then, Wilde Ganzen makes sure that there is a trainer with a disability in each ‘training of the teachers. Other spin-offs also occurred, such as offering support to e-learners with a disability for the online courses of the Academy.
Na de presentaties van de cases volgde een levendige discussie onder het publiek. Een van de manieren waarmee we hebben besloten was het belang van context: de beste praktijken kunnen niet altijd in andere projecten worden gedupliceerd. Het delen van deze geleerde lessen biedt echter een geweldige kans om de succesverhalen te horen, uit te wisselen over hoe u bepaalde uitdagingen kunt aanpakken en de methoden te kiezen die uw initiatief voor inclusie het beste dienen. We hopen dat je inspiratie hebt opgedaan en nieuwe ideeën hebt opgedaan uit deze gepresenteerde casestudy's en van elkaar.
DCDD bedankt iedereen die heeft deelgenomen aan de leersessie en we hopen je ook te zien in onze komende evenementen! Heb je suggesties voor een onderwerp voor een nieuwe leersessie? Aarzel niet om contact met ons op te nemen via dcdd@dcdd.nl!
