About Us
SDDC (Swiss Disability And Development Consortium) is a Swiss based network advocating for the rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities in Swiss international cooperation.
SDDC was founded in 2016 by CBM Switzerland, FAIRMED and Handicap International Switzerland (HI). In 2019, the International Disability Alliance (IDA) joined the consortium. CBM Switzerland hosts the secretariat. The members' areas of work, expertise and priorities complement each other both thematically and geographically. In addition to its advocacy work, SDDC gathers, develops and shares expertise, resources and information on disability-inclusive development.
The work of SDDC aims at the full implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) by Switzerland, especially Art. 11 on situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies and Art. 32 on international cooperation. While focusing on these two articles, in our work, we take the CRPD into account in its entirety. In doing so, the consortium also contributes to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These shall be achieved until 2030 under its guiding principle of "Leave No One Behind".
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Our values
- The CRPD as well as the human-rights based approach (HRBA) to development are our guiding frameworks. We promote human rights and empowerment and advocate for social justice.
- We value and include all persons as equals, celebrate diversity and practice non-discrimination, with special focus to the most marginalized and underrepresented persons with disabilities such as but not limited to women, girls, youth, elderly, LGBTIQ+, refugees, internally displaced, indigenous, persons with psychosocial disabilities, intellectual disabilities and deaf blindness.
- We respect and foster the voice, choice and autonomy of all persons with disabilities. We commit to disability-inclusive practices in all our work, including in our employment practices.
- We are committed to Leave No One Behind and reaching those persons with disabilities that are most marginalized.
- We work with and meaningfully consult and support persons with disabilities and their representative organizations (DPOs)
- We strive for full accessibility in line with the principles of Universal Design.
