BBI’s international program focuses on: (1) Empowering disability advocates and their representative organizations to facilitate full and equal access to justice; (2) building and strengthening institutions to advance and empower persons with disabilities; and (3) innovating in disability inclusive development and supporting human rights and disability law and policy reform consistent with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
BBI works in the following ways to advance human rights and disability inclusive development:
Empowering advocates
- Develop civil society capacity for disability law, policy, & development programming;
- Create a network of highly skilled disability rights advocates trained in the methodology of participatory human rights education and disability rights documentation and reporting;
- Deliver trainings and resources in uniquely accessible formats, including (1) tactile ballot guides for blind voters; (2) accessible websites for screen readers; and (3) election and human rights materials in pictorial and easy-to-read formats for persons with intellectual disabilities or low levels of literacy;
- Working with universities throughout the world to train the next generation of disability law and policy advocates.
Building and strengthening institutions
- Provide technical assistance on disability rights to support constitutional assemblies, parliamentary human rights committees, national human rights commissions, election commissions and DPOs.
Innovating in inclusive development
- Support USAID and other donors and implementers in advancing disability inclusive development through research, training, and implementation of innovative inclusive development projects;
- Partner with rule of law, election assistance, civil society strengthening, public health & HIV/AIDS and education implementers to advance inclusive development;
Supporting law and policy reform
- Facilitate disability rights trainings for DPOs, parliamentarians, ministries, and legal advocates.
Partners
- United Nations New York, NY
- United States – Department of State Washington, DC
- USAID
- International Labour Organization Geneva, Switzerland
- The World Bank Washington, DC
- International Foundation for Electoral Systems Cairo, Egypt -Election Access for Egyptians with Disabilities
- BlueLaw International Hampton, Virginia
- National University of Ireland, Galway Galway, Ireland
- Global Universal Design Commission International Offices
- American University Washington College of Law & Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Washington, DC
- Global Partnership on Disability and Development- A Project of The World Bank Washington, DC
- Harvard Law School Project on Disability Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Helwan University Cairo, Egypt
- Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos (Mexican Human Rights Commission) Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico
- National Academy of Sciences Research Foundation Washington, DC
- University of Haifa Haifa, Israel
- University of Minnesota Human Rights Center Minneapolis, MN
- University of Namibia Windhoek, Namibia
- University of Pretoria Human Rights Centre Pretoria, South Africa
- United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs New York, USA
- United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Geneva, Switzerland
- NOVA – Norwegian Social Research Oslo, Norway
- Handong Global University Pohang, North Gyeongsang province, South Korea