Advocacy
We advocate for international human rights rhetoric to transcend into positive changes for people with disabilities.
What is advocacy?
We define advocacy as any activity outside the court-room which asks those who have a duty to develop and implement laws to take a particular action. We carry out a watchdog role, speaking truth to power, and reminding governments of their obligations to uphold international human rights law.
Why does MDAC do advocacy?
MDAC carries out advocacy as well as strategic litigation, because we believe that social change requires a variety of methods. Opening discussions directly with policy-makers can be an effective method to persuade people of a point of view. We use advocacy to present the results of our research and monitoring programme and in order to call for social change.
How does MDAC do advocacy?
As an international organisation, we engage in domestic advocacy either individually or in collaboration with organisational partners, and we use research to provide evidence-based policy contributions. Our advocacy seeks to challenge the status quo where people with disabilities have laws enacted upon them. We provide feasible, human rights-based suggestions to policy-makers so that they can properly develop and implement laws and policies. Our advocacy comments on the extent to which international human rights laws are implemented, judgments are enforced, and policy is responsive to needs. At the domestic level our advocacy includes sending letters of concern or encouragement to governments, commenting on legislative proposals, contributing to discussions, debates and discourse through the media, making court decisions easy to understand for people with disabilities and their families, holding conferences, round-tables and seminars to create a forum for discussion on specific issues.
At the international level, we work with various bodies both globally and at the European and African regional levels to ensure that bodies such as the European Union and the United Nations come our with policies and statements that advance rights and hold States to account. MDAC staff are regularly invited by international organisations as experts to present on human rights issues.