inclusion-international

1. www.inclusion-international.org Beyond the Ballot Box: Supporting the Civic Engagement and Political Participation of People with Intellectual Disabilities Workshop for Electoral Officials

2. Why Are We Here? • To increase the understanding of Electoral Officials about supporting the political participation of people with intellectual disabilities • The workshop will: • Provide governments and civil servants information on disability issues and tools and resources to increase political participation of people with intellectual disabilities We gratefully acknowledge the UN Democracy Fund for its support of this project, Accessing the Ballot Box.

3. Welcome & Introductions • WHO are you? • WHY do you think you were chosen to be here? • WHAT do you see your role in promoting political participation?

4. II Project: Beyond the Ballot Box • The main objectives of the project are to: • establish a baseline understanding of the political participation of people with intellectual disabilities in Kenya, Lebanon and Zanzibar; • increase the awareness and knowledge of people with intellectual disabilities, their families and representative organizations and governments about the right to political participation • provide tools to initiate positive change. • The project will do this through: • collection and analysis of data • development of tools and publications on the right to political participation • workshops and train-the-trainer programmes.

5. II Project: Expected Outcomes • Increased understanding about the political participation of people with intellectual disabilities in the 3 countries. • People with intellectual disabilities, their families and representative organizations in the 3 countries have the capacity to address the barriers people with intellectual disabilities experience in regards to political participation. • Enhanced awareness by electoral officials and the public in the 3 countries about supporting people to exercise their right to political participation

6. Global Reality Through Inclusion International’s work around the world, people with intellectual disabilities and their families have told us that they are voiceless. “Without voice, we are powerless.” The majority of persons with an intellectual disability are the poorest of the poor; highly marginalized; excluded from education, employment, health, vocational training, recreational activities; with their rights not respected; and with no supports to be able to live and participate in communities, making people very vulnerable as a group.

7. What we know about Political Participation • There is a systemic exclusion of people with intellectual disabilities, in particular women with intellectual disabilities, from political participation. • People with intellectual disabilities are often denied their right to vote and engage in democratic processes. • Families and the majority of their organizations do not identify political participation as a priority for people with intellectual disability

8. BUT There is a growing interest from people with disabilities in having the opportunity to shape their communities and, in doing so, for them to be recognized and valued as community members. To achieve this: • People with an intellectual disability and their families need to participate politically as equal, active and engaged citizens. • People with an intellectual disability, their families, and their organizations should always have a voice in programs that affect them, as well as decisions that impact their welfare and their communities. • The UN CRPD is an opportunity, because it recognizes the Right to Participation in Political and Public Life (Article 29).

9. Goals and Outcomes for the Day

10. Together We Will: • Discuss ways to advance the citizenship, inclusion, human rights and well-being of people with intellectual disabilities • Learn about analysing public policy on civic engagement and political participation with a disability and inclusion lens • Identify actions to increase the political participation of people with intellectual disabilities

11. POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

12. Why is Civic Engagement and Political Participation Important? • It is a way of ensuring that people with intellectual disabilities are included in different aspects of life • It is a symbol of true and equal citizenship • It is a way of recognizing the legal capacity of people with intellectual disabilities • It gives people with intellectual disabilities a voice • It shapes more inclusive government policies • It builds greater inclusion for all citizens • It opens discussions for the human rights of wider populations

13. What Do We Mean by Civic Engagement and Political Participation? • Be counted. • Census • Citizen identification cards, birth certificates, etc. • People with intellectual disabilities, their families and family based organizations as activists. • Join and form non-governmental organizations dealing with political and civic matters.

14. What Do We Mean by Civic Engagement and Political Participation? • Participation in consultation processes and government bodies that make decisions about people with intellectual disability and their families: “Nothing about us without us” • Participation on national/municipal/local councils of disability or equivalent. • Shadow Reports on the CRPD • Other consultation processes in topics that are related to disability or other items of general interest. Are people with intellectual disability invited? Are they accessible for people with intellectual disabilities?

15. What Do We Mean by Civic Engagement and Political Participation? • Participate in the electoral process. • Pre Electoral Period: review and influence party platforms, run for public office • Electoral Period: be able to vote in election; stand for election to public office • Post Electoral Period: participate in the formulation of public policy and monitor public institutions; participate in the administration of political parties; hold public office

16. What Do We Mean by Civic Engagement and Political Participation? • Participate in the development and influencing of legislation and policies. • Dispel myths, attitudes, and beliefs: Language that discriminates, excludes, creates low expectations, supports myths and negative beliefs and attitudes • Discrimination because of a disability • Denies self-determination • Does not support the inclusion of persons with disabilities as active and valued citizens in community

17. What Does the Right to Participate in the Political and Civic Life of a Country Mean? • The right to participate in the political and civic life of a country is about more than the right to vote. • Article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provides for the right to participate in the political and public life of a country. • It provides that all people with disabilities, no matter the type or the severity of the disability, have the right to participate in political and civic matters. • Also links to CRPD Article 4.3, 5, 9, 12 • Critical in influencing CRPD Article 19, 24, 27, 28

18. GOVERNMENTOBLIGATIONS

19. Governments have a duty to: • Ensure that none of their policies and legislations have wording, processes and/or procedures that are discriminatory towards people with disability or exclude people with disability of their right and possibility of participating in civic and political life in their countries; • Promote a free environment that encourages the participation of people with disabilities in civil society; • Ensure that people with intellectual disabilities are counted in censuses; • Ensure that people with intellectual disabilities are assisted to obtain birth certificates and identity cards; • Facilitate the use of appropriate assistive devices and new technology; • Put in place voting procedures, facilities and materials that are accessible and easy to use and understand; • Ensure that people vote by secret ballot without any intimidation; • Allow people to be assisted in voting by a person of their choice.

20. CRPD Article 29 States Parties shall guarantee to persons with disabilities political rights and the opportunity to enjoy them on an equal basis with others, and shall undertake to: • Ensure that persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in political and public life on an equal basis with others, directly or through freely chosen representatives, including the right and opportunity for persons with disabilities to vote and be elected, inter alia, by: • Ensuring that voting procedures, facilities and materials are appropriate, accessible and easy to understand and use; • Protecting the right of persons with disabilities to vote by secret ballot in elections and public referendums without intimidation, and to stand for elections, to effectively hold office and perform all public functions at all levels of government, facilitating the use of assistive and new technologies where appropriate; • Guaranteeing the free expression of the will of persons with disabilities as electors and to this end, where necessary, at their request, allowing assistance in voting by a person of their own choice; • Promote actively an environment in which persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in the conduct of public affairs, without discrimination and on an equal basis with others, and encourage their participation in public affairs, including: • Participation in non-governmental organizations and associations concerned with the public and political life of the country, and in the activities and administration of political parties; • Forming and joining organizations of persons with disabilities to represent persons with disabilities at international, national, regional and local levels.

21. What does that mean? • Voting materials, facilities and procedures are accessible; • People with intellectual disabilities are able to vote in secret on the day of elections; • People with intellectual disabilities are supported to obtain identity cards and birth certificates in order to fulfil requirements for voter registration; • Voting information such as the location of polling stations and the candidates is available in accessible formats; • Voting assistance is provided by a person of one’s choosing; • People with intellectual disabilities are able to hold public office; • People with intellectual disabilities are free to participate in civil society organizations which are concerned with the public and political life of a country as well as the administration of political parties; and that • People with intellectual disabilities can form or join organizations which represent people with disabilities at local, regional, national and international levels. • NOT JUST ABOUT VOTING

22. CRPD Compliance Checklist • Are there provisions in the law preventing people with intellectual disabilities from voting in elections? • Are people with intellectual disabilities in your country supported to obtain birth certificates and identity cards to enable them to register to vote in elections? • Is voting information about the political parties, candidates and polling stations made available to people with intellectual disabilities in accessible formats? • Does the law in your country prevent people with intellectual disabilities from standing for or holding public office? • Are voting materials, facilities and procedures in your country accessible to people with intellectual disabilities?

23. CRPD Compliance Checklist • Do election officials in your country allow people with intellectual disabilities to vote in secret and if they need assistance, to be assisted by a person of their choice? • Are people with intellectual disabilities in your country free to participate in civil society organizations which are concerned with public and political life of the country? • Are people with disabilities in your country free to participate in civil society organizations which deal with the administration of political parties? • Can people with intellectual disabilities in your country join or form their own organizations which represent people with disabilities at the local, regional, national and international levels?

24. OBSTACLES AND BARRIERS

25. What we’ve learned • Legal Capacity • Discriminatory Laws and Policies • Accessibility: Beyond Physical Access to Include accessible materials in the form of plain language • Educating the Public About the Rights of People with Intellectual Disabilities • Training Government Officials About the Rights of People with Intellectual Disabilities • Putting in Place Structures to Assist People with Intellectual Disabilities to Participate • Training families on the importance of participating in the political and civic life of a country • Addressing root causes of exclusion – in particular access to inclusive education and being supported to live and be included in the community.

26. TAKING ACTION

27. INCLUSIVE PUBLIC POLICY

28. Analyzing Public Policy with a Disability and Inclusion Lens • Public policy should benefit all citizens. Many policies which do not incorporate a gender analysis have historically had a negative impact on girls and women. It is the same for people with disabilities. • We know that public policy has historically not served people with disabilities well. Rates of poverty, unemployment/exclusion from the labour force, access to education, health status, illiteracy, violence and abuse, and other factors show that people with disabilities have been and remain systematically marginalized in society. Public policy decisions, or non-decisions, can be seen as directly contributing to these outcomes.

29. Analyzing Public Policy with a Disability and Inclusion Lens • There are policy disincentives and gaps to enabling inclusive outcomes for people. Public policy can be more effective in achieving objectives and targets if we identify and address the built-in disincentives and gaps that leave people with disabilities without needed supports and opportunities. • Public policy should ensure equality of opportunity and outcomes. Policies that result in inclusion, participation, contribution and full citizenship of all people including people with disabilities are good policies.

30. INCLUSIVE ELECTIONS

31. Increasing political participation in elections • Remove blanket disqualifications • ie: “unsoundness of mind” provisions • Guardianship/restrictions on legal capacity •  Ensure people have the necessary ID cards to enable them to register as voters; • Include persons with disabilities in voter education programs; • Making sure that registration information is made available on the relevant websites in plain language • Consider special registration drives for people with intellectual disabilities

32. Increasing political participation in elections • Train registration/election officials on how to communicate with people with intellectual disabilities and how to meet their needs; • Ensure public consultations/election events are inclusive and accessible • Provide election materials and candidate guides are made available in plain language • Require political parties and candidates to provide information in plain language • Making sure people with intellectual disabilities are also given the chance to become candidates.

33. INCLUSIVE PRACTICES

34. Building Inclusive Communities • If the roots causes of marginalization are not addressed people with intellectual disabilities will continue to have low levels of political participation. • Key areas for investment: • Self-advocacy and decision making • Inclusive education • Living and being include in the community

35. Accessing the Ballot Box: Inclusive Civic Engagement