1. FES Launches New Tool to Promote Disability-Inclusive Election Observation
- Author:
- Virginia Atkinson and Rebecca Aaberg
- Publication Date:
- 10-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES)
- Abstract:
- ccording to the World Health Organization, one out of every seven people in the world has a disability, yet citizens with disabilities remain underrepresented in political life as voters, election observers, candidates and election officials. Mainstream observer groups often do not hire people with disabilities to serve as observers and only include basic, if any, questions on access for people with disabilities in their checklists. To ensure election observations account for the various barriers that women and men with disabilities encounter, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), along with disabled person’s organization (DPO) partners around the world, has developed an Election Access Observation Toolkit. IFES’ Election Access Observation Toolkit provides a methodology for conducting standalone observations on accessibility, as well as questions for mainstream observer groups to incorporate disability inclusion into their missions. Drawing upon IFES’ experience conducting dozens of election access observations in countries around the world and international and regional standards for inclusive elections, the Election Access Observation Toolkit provides DPOs and election observer groups with the background and tools to effectively incorporate a disability rights perspective into domestic and international observation missions. The toolkit, supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, United States Agency for International Development and Global Affairs Canada, gathers lessons learned from election access observations conducted by IFES and DPOs in a wide range of country contexts, including Indonesia, Haiti and Kosovo.
- Topic:
- Elections, Election watch, Disability, and Election Observation
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus