“USICD is not only my mentor, but a good friend of mine”: Farewell Statement of Sherzodbek Sharipov
Sherzodbek Sharipov It has been almost one and a half years since I joined USICD as an international fellow through the Atlas Corps Fellowship Program. Today, with honor and full of experience, I am moving forward with my new plans and hopes. USICD has become not only my mentor, but also my friend. During the [...]

Notes on the Busan Declaration
-Sherzodbek Sharipov Government representatives, parliamentarians, civil society organizations and private sector representatives from over 80 countries took part in the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF-4) in Busan, Korea, from November 29 to December 1, 2011.  This is the latest in a series of gatherings  in Rome, Paris and Accra that have helped transform aid [...]

Harnessing the Power of Knowledge in Africa
Knowledge can be a powerful tool for social transformation when you put it in the hands of disability rights advocates.  That’s the premise behind the Global Disability Rights Library (GDRL) project.  But the presence of knowledge alone is not enough.  People need to know that the off-line eGranary Digital Library containing the GDRL is available [...]

Achieving Communication Access in Africa on a Shoe String Budget
Four Cities, Three Countries, Two Weeks, and One Communication Challenge For a deaf person, making arrangements for communication access can be a logistical challenge no matter where you are.  But the challenge increases when you know you will be sweeping through four cities in three countries on the eastern coast of Africa during two weeks [...]

Growing Culture of Accessibility in Brazil
Living and working in Washington, DC, it is easy to get caught up in the cycles and concerns of political America.  Though USICD works to build bridges between American and International disability communities, it’s easy to start believing that DC is the center of action for disability rights when we are surrounded by federal agencies, [...]

A Day on Capitol Hill
From every corner of the country, people converged at the Peace Circle on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, September 21, 2011 for the “My Medicaid Matters” rally. Senators, Congresswomen, and civil rights leaders took their turns at the podium, including disability community leaders, speaking out among a sea of yellow t-shirt and [...]

Equality, Dignity, and Independence through Sport
“Sport builds bodies and minds, promotes public health and instills important values, such as teamwork, fairness, inclusion, cooperation and communication.  It also teaches the importance of principles such as interdependence and respect.” – Charlotte McClain-Nhalpo, USAID Coordinator for Disability and Inclusive Development  Although disability inclusion in sports has long been an international force, the Convention [...]

Enabling Development, Realizing the CRPD Through Civil Society Cooperation
-Sherzodbek Sharipov, Research and Programs Fellow, USICD   New York, UN Headquarters- From September 6-9, government delegations and disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) from all over the world gathered at the UN Headquarters in New York for the Conference of States Parties (COSP).  DPOs from different countries had a chance to share their experiences and best [...]

The Deaf Invasion of Durban, South Africa
I had not attended a World Federation of the Deaf world congress since 1991 when it met in Tokyo, Japan.  The world congress, which convenes only once every four years, has often been too expensive to attend or scheduled at a time inconvenient for me.  But when I learned that the 2011 world congress was [...]

From the Jungle to the White House
By Jean de Dieu MUKUNZI Fifteen years ago I was lost in the second largest jungle in the world, the Congolese Equatorial Jungle, because of the Rwandan genocide and Rwandese refugees’ mass killings in Congo.  I had no access to salt, to soap, to a bed… I was hopeless, homeless, and lifeless. The jungle in [...]