Call to action: Protect the right to family life & prevent institutionalization for all children

This call to action seeks to contribute to a range of efforts worldwide to promote consistent interpretation and enforcement of international human rights law in respect of children with disabilities, including the activities of the committees mentioned and other stakeholders and in particular the preparations for a Day of General Discussion on Children’s Rights and Alternative Care scheduled to take place in September 2021 under the auspices of the Committee on the Rights the Child.

Joint contribution of disability rights organisations to the 2021 EU-Ukraine Human Rights Dialogue

This submission focuses on the situation of children in institutions and the status of the deinstitutionalisation process in Ukraine. Disability Rights International (DRI), European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) and Validity Foundation commend the commitment of European Union to promote the fundamental rights for persons with disabilities and in particular its commitment to deinstitutionalisation of children globally.

Online launch of the COVID-19 Disability Rights Monitor Global Report

On 22 October 2020, Validity Foundation, the European Network on Independent Living, Disability Rights International, the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria, the International Disability Alliance, the International Disability and Development Consortium, and the Disability Rights Fund/Disability Rights Advocacy Fund will launch the COVID-19 Disability Rights Monitor Global Report.

COVID-19 Disability Rights Monitor (DRM) calls for an end to police violence and abuse against persons with disabilities and their family members

The COVID-19 Disability Rights Monitor Coordinating Group express their alarm about increasing police violence against persons with disabilities in the context of the pandemic, and are calling on governments around the world to take urgent steps to prevent acts of brutality.

COVID-19 Disability Rights Monitor (DRM) calls for an emergency response to the catastrophic abuse of the human rights of persons with disabilities in institutions 

On 20 April 2020, the COVID-19 Disability Rights Monitor (DRM) launched an international survey to monitor state measures concerning persons with disabilities amid the pandemic. The initial analysis of the ongoing global survey has revealed grave and systemic violations of fundamental freedoms and human rights of persons with disabilities detained in large- and small-scale institutions, which have become the epicenter of COVID-19 infections and deaths.

Safety through Inclusion: The Case for Emergency Deinstitutionalization - webinar series

People with disabilities, international human rights authorities, and activists discuss: Immediate threats to the health and life of children and adults in institutions due to COVID-19; Emergency protections against irreparable harm through international human rights systems; How to protect people with disabilities through community inclusion and emergency deinstitutionalization; The case for an international commission to protect people with disabilities in institutions through inclusion and emergency deinstitutionalization.

Action steps to protect children and adults with disabilities during COVID-19 pandemic - especially in institutions and orphanages

Disability Rights International (DRI) is dedicated to promoting the basic human rights of people with disabilities, including the right to grow up with a family and live the community (DRI reports are posted at www.DRIadvocacy.org). For over 25 years DRI has worked around the globe documenting the human rights concerns of children and adults living in institutions, including nursing homes, social care facilities, psychiatric hospitals, orphanages, shelters, residential care, or even congregate community treatment facilities.