Asia and the Pacific
Participants in IFES’ AGENDA training on strategic communication and advocacy in November 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia, pose for a group photo.
On November 15, 2018, the ASEAN Enabling Masterplan 2025: Mainstreaming the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was signed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Heads of State at the 33rd ASEAN Summit in Singapore. The Masterplan is ASEAN’s first regional action plan for mainstreaming the rights of persons with disabilities in all aspects of its new regional development agenda.
Capitalizing on the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) by all ten ASEAN member states, the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) initiated dialogue, drafted, and launched the Masterplan to ensure disability rights in the region. The General Election Network for Disability Access (AGENDA), a creative partnership of disabled people’s organizations (DPOs) and election-focused civil society organizations in Southeast Asia, organized feedback sessions with disabled people’s organizations (DPOs) on the document, resulting in an inclusive, consultative process.
The Masterplan will serve as a tool for stakeholders at all levels, including ASEAN officials, national governments, and DPOs for ensuring that key elements of the CRPD and regional disability rights documents, such as the ASEAN Vision 2025 Blueprints and Mobilization Framework, are put into practice. The Masterplan identifies 76 priority action points spanning disability-inclusive participation in political and economic life, society and culture, and the environment.
To ensure successful implementation of the Masterplan, AGENDA network DPOs will advocate with both of national governments and of ASEAN Sectorial Bodies to integrate the Masterplan’s priority action points.
“I will share about…the ASEAN Masterplan in a radio talk show hosted by Malang Inclusion Forum in Malang, Indonesia where people are currently advocating local regulations about disability rights.”
- Hari Kurniawan, Indonesian disability rights advocate and training participant
The ASEAN announcement on the Masterplan is available here.