Everyone has the right to be involved in decision-making that affects them
This is described in Article 4.3 (General Obligations) of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for all governments to recognise, specifically in relation to persons with disabilities.
This means organisations must make sure that people with disabilities are involved in everything they do.
Right now, there are more self-advocate leaders than ever working for change.
But we know people with an intellectual disability are often still not included meaningfully in the work that affects them.
"When we take part in meetings with other organisations we very rarely get the information in the way we need."
There are lots of organisations working with people with intellectual disabilities who do this very well.
However, we can all do better.
Put simply, an inclusive organisation is one that includes all its stakeholders in its work
Many people face barriers that prevent them from playing key roles in organisations.
Such roles may include (but are not limited to):
Every organisation should aspire to include everyone in its decision-making.
This can be achieved in any organisation, with the right processes in place and with a genuine desire to succeed.
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We are learning all the time from our current projects. In the future, we hope to do more work like this, working with our membership network and with international organisations all over the world. DSi will also continue to improve our own work, ensuring that everything we do includes people with Down syndrome, from start to finish.
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The Listen Include Respect guidelines will help organisations of all types to be more inclusive of people with disabilities. Read more
Find out what we think inclusion means in organisations, and what it doesn't mean! Read more
The International Disability Alliance (IDA) has launched the Easy Read version of the Second Global Survey on OPD Participation in Programmes and Policies. Read more
WeThe15 is sport’s biggest ever human rights movement to end discrimination. Together, we aim to transform the lives of the world’s 1.2 billion persons with disabilities who represent 15% of the global population. Read more
Watch the recording from our group learning session where we show you what we are doing to make it easier for people with Down syndrome to participate remotely. Read more
We have found apps that make direct communication with people with Down syndrome easier for organisations, so that it is easier for people with Down syndrome to take part. Read more
Our National Representatives are now known as DSi Ambassadors and we couldn't be prouder to work with them. Read more
George Okudi has been worked jointly with DSi and Inclusion International for four months on the ‘Listen Include Respect’ project. Read more
We and our partner Inclusion International are proud of the progress achieved in the first year on our joint project developing guidelines for inclusive participation. Read more
We believe that people with Down syndrome should be involved at all levels of decision making within Down syndrome organisations. Read more
Learn more about our inclusive participation project in this video with Inclusion International. Read more
Spend some time learning from our National Representatives with Down syndrome about self advocacy and the role of support in our latest webinar. Read more
The National Representatives discussed how they want to contribute to the work of DSi, what roles they could take and the projects they want the group to work on. Read more
We discussed the process for producing international guidelines on the inclusive participation of people with intellectual disabilities. Read more