World Down Syndrome Day 21 March

United Nations Voluntary Fund on Disability – Activities Supported

In April 2020, the United Nations Voluntary Funds on Disability provided grants on catalytic and innovative activities that support the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In 2019 call for proposals, 125 applications were received from 41 countries. After a rigorous selection process, UNDESA, within the mandate of the General Assembly in its resolution 63/150, awarded grants to the following projects in Argentina, Lesotho and Uganda. These projects aim to address the needs of the most vulnerable groups of persons with disabilities, including women with disabilities and persons with psychosocial disabilities and intellectual disabilities who are facing multiple and intersecting forms of discriminations.

Participation by women with disabilities in gender equality debates in Argentina, to be implemented by three non-governmental organizations, Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales, in collaboration with Movimiento por la Salud Comunitaria y los Derechos Humanos and Asociación por los Derechos en Salud Mental. The project will disseminate information and create tools that allow women with psychosocial disabilities and intellectual disabilities to assert their recognition as subjects of law capable of making their own decisions – with support, if necessary – and participating in the matters that affect them.

Lesotho disability mainstreaming project
The project will be implemented by Lesotho National Federation of Organisations of the Disabled in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Development by identifying and providing knowledge to ministerial disability focal points through a series of training activities and sharing tools to develop disability-inclusive budgets and to better support disability-related services, in order to implement the Lesotho National Disability Mainstreaming Plan.

Improving access and delivery of sexual and reproductive health rights and services to women and girls with disabilities in Hoima District, Uganda
The project will be implemented by Hoima District Union of Persons With Disabilities and brings together an umbrella organizations of persons with disabilities with local government entities. This type of partnership will ensure that the needs of women and girls with disabilities are properly identified and that local health officials are given the knowledge needed to address those needs.

These grants have been made possible thanks to contributions from China, Morocco, South Africa, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates in 2018 and 2019.

If you would like to make a contribution to the Voluntary Fund on Disability, please contact Evelyn Wonosaputra at evelyn.wonosaputra@un.org.

Resources

Previously supported projects and activities