We recently delivered human rights training for our member organisations in Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda and Bangladesh.

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Background

DSi in partnership with the International Disability Alliance received funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) to implement a two-year project aimed at increasing the inclusion of self-advocates with Down syndrome in the advocacy work of member organisations in Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda.

Pivotal to the project is the need to build the advocacy capacity of leaders of organisations of persons with Down syndrome on human rights. To achieve this we developed training aimed at providing participants with an understanding of a rights-based approach to development, increasing their knowledge of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and supporting them to reflect on their own inclusion of the voices of people with Down syndrome within their work.

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The Training

Over six weeks the human rights training was characterised by interaction, discussions and sharing of experiences between participants. The sessions were attended through a combination of live online workshops via GoTo Training and resources and exercises to review and complete between sessions.

The well attended training drew participation from leadership and staff from Down Syndrome Society of Kenya, Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria, Inclusion Uganda, Uganda Down Syndrome Association, Rwanda Down Syndrome Organisation and Down Syndrome Society of Bangladesh.

Topics covered included:

• An introduction to human rights and development;
• The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);
• Public Policy and network building;
• Organisations of persons with disabilities and inclusive participation.

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What next?

We are starting further training with the same organisations on how to support people with Down syndrome to establish and run self-advocacy groups. These groups will:

• Learn about their human rights;
• Develop their skills speaking up for themselves;
• Plan and run advocacy campaigns.

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Learn more about our self-advocacy work

Self-advocacy