Anupa Iyer
MDAC is an exciting place to work because it is one of the few organizations that uses litigation as a vehicle for social change for persons with actual or perceived intellectual or psychosocial disabilities. Having worked for persons with disabilities on a statewide level it was incredible to do legal work on this issue internationally.
Overall, my experience with MDAC was amazing and eye opening. It was frustrating to learn about how persons with disabilities are treated in Eastern Europe and Africa. However, this knowledge inspires me to continue working hard on this issue after I graduate from law school.
If I had to pick a singular event that was the most interesting for me, it would have to be attending the U.N. Inter-Committee meeting. Not only did I learn about policy making in the United Nations, but I had the chance to meet and talk to the Special Rapportuers and treaty body committee chairs. It was so inspiring!
As an intern I was involved in two main tasks. During my first month I prepared materials for the Inter-Committee meeting. My role was to analyze the reporting process for States under various treaty bodies. I specifically evaluated the list of issues based reporting process to see whether it should be implemented for the CRPD. The best part of this project was that I had the chance to attend the Inter-committee meeting at the High Commission for Human Rights and hear these issues being discussed by the treaty body chairs.
The second half of my internship focused on making recommendations on the World Health Organization Declaration and Action Plan for Children and Young Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and Their Families. My job was to revise this document and ensure that it strove to improve the lives of children with intellectual disabilities. The revisions to the document were supported by hard law (i.e. treaties including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and The Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) and soft law (i.e. recommendations by Paul Hunt, the previous Special Rapporteur to the Right to Health). Some of the specific recommendations that I made are the following: (1) all young persons with intellectual disabilities should have a right to sexual education and reproductive freedom; (2) states should deinstitutionalize children and young persons with intellectual disabilities; and (3) healthcare services must be accessible for persons with disabilities. As part of this project, I was fortunate to go to Prague for an Inclusion Europe conference on inclusive health and speak to people there about this document.
In addition to working on these tasks, I also worked on ensuring that the translation to the Hungarian Shadow report was accurate.
This internship contributed to my personal and professional development on several levels. Professionally, I want to continue working in this field and I hope to use my experiences here to work on policy issues affecting persons with disabilities on an international level. On a personal level it was inspiring and motivating to meet other psychiatric survivors who are in this field.
I am definitely planning on staying in the field of human rights in the future!