Promoting Engagement of Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) in Development and Humanitarian Action

This discussion paper was commissioned by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) as a contribution to unpack, frame, guide and incentivize engagement of Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) in development and humanitarian action through the Global Disability Summit (GDS) 2022. While disability inclusion is increasingly part of the global agenda, international cooperation policies and programs, efforts to enact commitments too rarely consider the perspectives of persons with disabilities themselves. This results in lack of relevance of interventions to the real concerns and priorities of persons with disabilities, missed opportunities or pervasive charity or medical approaches.

OPD engagement is therefore one of the overarching themes of the GDS 2022, in line with the motto of the disability rights movement ‘Nothing about us without us’, and with its legal translation into the general obligation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD, Article 4.3) to actively involve persons with disabilities through their representative organizations.

The paper is intended to contribute towards the growing discourse on inclusive programming and meaningful engagement of persons with disabilities and their families through their representative organisation in development interventions. It is hoped that the paper will be a resource for governments, donors, civil society organisations, and OPDs where relevant in their efforts towards inclusive and accessible development programmes.