USICD Collaborates to Develop Global Disability Rights Library
March 4, 2010
Millions of people with disabilities, advocates, and policy makers around the world will soon find it easier to access hundreds of thousands of educational and organizational resources on disability rights, whether or not they have access to the Internet.
The United States International Council on Disability (USICD) is collaborating with the University of Iowa’s WiderNet Project, with the support of a three-year, $1.6 million grant from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), to produce and distribute a Global Disability Rights Library for use in both developed and developing countries. This library will be an enhanced version of WiderNet’s eGranary Digital Library, an off-line information storage and collaboration platform that provides Internet-like access to digital resources without requiring Internet connectivity.
This project has been inspired by the growing, international disability rights movement, and the new international treaty, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Today, more than 140 nations have signed the treaty and more than half have fully ratified it. The growing sector of disabled people’s organizations (DPOs) operating at the local and national levels around the world are leading the implementation of the treaty in their countries and empowering their diverse disability communities with information and resources. However, many policymakers and disability advocates lack access to the information they need to fully implement the CRPD so that people with disabilities can enjoy the same human rights as their neighbors without disabilities. The Global Disability Rights Library seeks to build a bridge between global information sources and these advocates and policymakers.
“The strongest asset of the global disability rights movement are people with disabilities themselves and other advocates who bring an incredible supply of passion and energy to the work of human rights advocacy,” says Marca Bristo, USICD President. “But advocates also face tremendous barriers. One of these barriers is the difficulty they face simply in accessing knowledge about best practices in accessibility, or obtaining copies of human rights training manuals and other information resources. Information is a powerful tool for transforming society. And the Global Disability Rights Library puts that tool in the hands of people in the best position to change the lives of people with disabilities for the better.”
"Information sharing between disabled people's organizations and advocates around the world is vital for promoting disability rights and implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” says Kudakwashe Dube, Chief Executive Officer of the Secretariat of the African Decade on Persons with Disabilities. “This project offers a solution to a common challenge experienced by people in many countries: getting information. It is exciting to see this technology applied to disability rights. I believe it is going to have a positive impact for people with disabilities in developing countries. In Africa, we welcome every opportunity to improve the lives of persons with disabilities."
The Global Disability Rights Library will help bring a wealth of information to organizations that serve people with disabilities in developing countries but lack adequate Internet access. DPOs located in communities without Internet access will be the primary recipient of the library in an electronic storage device. The library will typically be stored either in a stand-alone, 2 terabyte USB drive or in a server. The drive or server would be installed within existing local area (LAN) or wide area (WAN) networks so that users may share the library directly from the storage device without needing Internet access. The information in the library would be easily searchable, using an interface similar to popular search engines and also via portals that organize selected materials by dozens of thematic topics. People around the world who have web access will be able to use the new Global Disability Rights Library via the web.
USICD will be working with the WiderNet Project and disability rights advocates to build a collection of best practices and educational resources responsive to the need for disability advocacy and policy development in developing countries. USICD will liaise with its extensive national and international network of members, partners, and contacts across the United States and around the world in order to locate appropriate materials. DPOs, policymakers, individual advocates, and others will be able to use this comprehensive library, which will be designed to be fully accessible to users with disabilities. The library’s collection will include resources such as information on independent living, advocacy, education, transportation, public policy, employment, vocational rehabilitation, and other topics.
“USICD was the logical partner for this project,” says Cliff Missen, Director of the WiderNet Project. “We at the WiderNet Project are able to bring our extensive expertise in delivering knowledge in a digital format to people in developing countries who lack adequate Internet access. Meanwhile, USICD is a critical bridge between the United States and the global disability rights movement. The project will be able to tap into a deep reservoir of existing disability rights information and to see that it reaches the people who need it most.”
As subgrantee on the project, USICD will organize and evaluate content and develop custom materials where additional resources are needed. The WiderNet Project, which has already deployed more than 300 eGranary Digital Libraries worldwide, will develop, and provide technical support for hardware and software, training in the use of the various software tools, and assistance in processing resources shared by hundreds of organizations worldwide.
“Americans with disabilities have the potential to bring both valuable knowledge and perspectives that can help the Global Disability Rights Library deliver information to improve the lives of people with disabilities in developing countries” says David Morrissey, Executive Director of USICD. “We will be communicating closely with USICD members and the global disability community as the project moves forward. The formation of an international advisory board for the project will assure the guidance of stakeholders in implementing this innovative project.”
A new website dedicated to this project will be announced soon. Please visit www.egranary.org for more information about the technology of the University of Iowa WiderNet Project. Please visit www.usicd.org for more information about the United States International Council on Disabilities.
For more information about the project, please contact USICD’s Andrea Shettle, Program Manager, at ashettle@usicd.org or the University of Iowa WiderNet’s Cliff Missen, Project Director, at cliff-missen@uiowa.edu.