We work closely with...

As 1 of 14 members of IDA, we represent the global Down syndrome community on the international disability stage.

Our IDA membership ensures that the voices of people with Down syndrome and their advocates are heard, both within the disability community and within the UN system. 

We work with our fellow members to ensure that all international policy as it relates to people with disabilities is compliant with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and that people with disabilities are fully included in the objectives of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

We also work together to hold policy makers to account at the national and regional levels in line with the CRPD and SDGs.

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An example of our advocacy work

On WDSD we organised an event at the United Nations in Geneva to give self-advocates with Down syndrome a chance to speak up about their rights to employment. Self-advocates spoke strongly about their right to work and to have a decent job with fair working conditions.

Read more here:

Self-advocates in Geneva

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Our ongoing advocacy work...

	8 WDSD Conferences organised at UN New York, each one advocating for society inclusion on a full and equal basis with others.
	3 WDSD side events organised at UN Geneva, the international home of human rights policy making, led by people with Down syndrome.
	Self-advocacy project completed in Turkey in 2017-18, with ongoing projects in Nigeria, Bangladesh and UAE in 2018-19, and an upcoming project in Kosovo, introducing concepts of human rights advocacy.
	Participation in IDA/IDDC Bridge CRPD-SDG Training initiative, putting forward participants with Down syndrome, our staff training as trainers and giving advice on effective inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in this initiative.
	Participation in IDA Fellowship initiative, with a Bridge trained person with Down syndrome from Uganda working as a trained in our self-advocacy projects and supporting members of the African Down Syndrome Network on the use of the CRPD and SDGs to advocate for change.
	Participation in the Conference of States Parties to the CRPD at UN New York each June and as part of the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities at the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development each July.

DSi is in Special Consultative (ECOSOC) Status with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.