SDDC is a Swiss based network advocating for the rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities in Switzerland's international cooperation.
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What's new?
The Swiss Disability and Development Consortium (SDDC) has developed a Roadmap for the period 2021 – 2023. The roadmap provides recommendations for a comprehensive pathway to render the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation’s (SDC) efforts inclusive of persons with disabilities both at institutional and field level.
It includes 10 concrete and actionable recommendations for the SDC. The Roadmap was officially received by the SDC Director and recognized in a response to a recent parliamentary interpellation (August 2021), where the SDC confirms its committment to develop an action plan based on the roadmap.
CBM Switzerland with the support of the Swiss Parliamentary Group – Solidarité Internationale, recently held a webinar on disability data in international cooperation. Key experts, including Professor Hannah Kuper from the International Centre for Evidence in Disability at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine shared their perspectives, practical tools and experiences on the importance of collecting, analysing and diaggregating data on disability. A panel spoke to topics related to disabiltiy data collection advocacy, disability data in humanitarian contexts, and data on aid spending on disabiltiy inclusion. For a full list of speakers, presentations, and links provided during the webinar, please see: www.cbmswiss.ch/disability-data
Key Messages
How can Switzerland ensure the rights of persons with disabilities in the Global South?
International Sign
No guidelines, no priority. Switzerland needs guidelines to inform its work on the inclusion of persons with disabilities in its international cooperation. Current efforts on disability inclusion are small scale, ad-hoc and mostly segregating.
Nothing about us, without us! Switzerland must ensure the full and active participation of persons with disabilities throughout all processes affecting them, including in its international cooperation. Arrangements must be made to enable their participation.
What isn’t counted, doesn’t count. Switzerland has committed itself to be a leader on data collection, but it is not systematically collecting and disaggregating data on disability in its international programmes.
Leave no one behind in humanitarian crises. Persons with disabilities are disproportionately affected in humanitarian crises. Switzerland committed itself to making its humanitarian action inclusive of persons with disabilities, but it is not clear how it is living up to its commitment.
What isn’t budgeted for, doesn’t get done. Switzerland must sufficiently budget for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in its international cooperation and must commit itself not to finance programs and services that segregate persons with disabilities from the community.