News Release

NCD #03-436
September 9, 2003
Contact: Mark S. Quigley
202-272-2004
202-272-2074 TTY
mquigley@ncd.gov

Citing Continuing Barriers: NCD Recommends Legislative Fixes for Disability Policies at State Department and USAID

WASHINGTON-The National Council on Disability (NCD) today released its report, Foreign Policy and Disability: Legislative Strategies and Civil Rights Protections to Ensure Inclusion of People with Disabilities, concluding that the inclusion of people with disabilities in U.S. foreign policy will be achieved only when specific legislation is enacted.

The report examines legislative changes that will ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities in all foreign assistance programs under the direction of the U.S. Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development. It is a follow-up to NCD's 1996 Foreign Policy and Disability (http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/foreign.html) report that found continued barriers to access for people with disabilities in U.S. foreign assistance programs.

According to NCD chairperson Lex Frieden, "In 1996, NCD recommended a series of policy changes at the State Department and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to ensure inclusion of people with disabilities in all foreign assistance programs, including the establishment of specific objectives for inclusion with a time-table for their fulfillment. Seven years later, NCD has concluded that inclusion of people with disabilities in U.S. foreign policy will only be achieved when specific legislation is enacted to achieve that purpose."

This report reviews a number of models that Congress has adopted for linking human rights and foreign policy that can be adapted to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities. This report looks primarily at the U.S. Department of State and USAID. Among the various strategies and approaches to improve foreign assistance policies and practices, NCD recommends that:

* Congress amend the Foreign Assistance Act to ensure inclusion of people with disabilities in all U.S. programs by requiring every U.S. agency operating abroad to operate in a manner that is accessible and inclusive of people with disabilities. NCD recommends that this be accomplished by, among other reforms, amending the Foreign Assistance Act to create a Disability Advisor at the State Department and creating an office on Disability and Development at USAID.
* Require documentation of disability rights violations in State Department Country Reports.
* Request that the General Accounting Office document access for people with disabilities in government-funded programs.
* Support the drafting of a United Nations convention on the rights of people with disabilities; and
* U.S. agencies operating abroad should establish guidelines for the implementation of the Rehabilitation Act in their programs abroad.

The principles of non-discrimination, access, and inclusion of people with disabilities have been established as civil rights. The reforms discussed in this report are needed to ensure that people with disabilities can fully contribute to U.S. foreign policies and programs abroad as they have done so effectively at home.