Foundations for a Disability Inclusive United Nations
This study was designed to support an evidence-based approach to the preparation of a policy, action plan, and accountability framework to strengthen both system-wide accessibility and the mainstreaming of the rights of persons with disabilities across the operations of the UN System and is the result of a collaborative effort between the Executive Office of the Secretary-General and the Office of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The research team was led by Principal Investigator Valerie Karr, PhD, from the School for Global Inclusion and Social Development at the University of Massachusetts Boston and included Megan McCloskey, Anne Hayes, Callie Brusegaard, Ashley van Edema, Katherine Aronson-Ensign, Abigail Green, Jennifer Mudawar, and Elena Taborda. Additional research assistance was provided by students at the University of Washington supervised by Megan McCloskey, including Colin Newton, Zu Zinyang Tan, Shirlee Sophia Watson, Alicia Jun, Mekdes Abate, Shannon Pierson, and Anne Basamania. All figures and infographics were developed by Ashley van Edema.
This study was carried out with the invaluable assistance of the Members of the Inter-Agency Support Group for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, specifically Sarah Rattray of UNDP and Stefan Trömel of ILO. We would like to thank Patricia Nemeth and the International Disability Alliance for their contributions to this study and the participation of organizations of persons with disabilities who took part in our different engagement sessions. Our work would not be complete without embodying the ethos of “Nothing about us without us”.
Lastly, we would like to acknowledge the efforts of the Members of the UN Sustainable Development Group, the UN Country Teams, and the staff from the Department of Management, the High-level Committee on Management, and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations who responded to our assessment queries. UN staff were able to respond to requests for information under tight time constraints, and we are grateful for their engagement.
