In 2017, through the DFID-funded Catalyst Project, IDA and its members decided to support DPOs to increase their capacities to engage fully with national and international SDGs and human rights monitoring processes and strengthen their advocacy through building robust evidence.
Since then, IDA members both at the regional and national level have undertaken writing comprehensive, evidence-based reports to provide a substantive understanding of how the SDGs are being implemented at the national or regional level for persons with disabilities in line with the CRPD. All six of IDA’s regional members volunteered to develop reports and national level members of members applied throughout their global or regional IDA members.
Both the regional and national reports were developed and led by DPOs, and thus highlighted different thematic areas, reflected national and regional priorities, and collected data with different methodologies.
Whilst being directed by DPOs, the reports had two requirements;
To have a cross-disability perspective
To include a section on women and girls with disabilities
Report writers have used their completed reports in a variety of advocacy areas, and have noted that the process of developing the reports has led to:
- Increased engagements and collaboration with government ministries,
- Strengthening partnerships with UN agencies and civil society networks,
- New data produced by analysis of surveys, budgets, and statistics from a CRPD perspective
- Data which has led to securing grants for further regional and national level investment in disability inclusion, and
- Increased network building and advocacy within regional and global SDG forums