MDAC in Vilnius

13 -14 December 2011, the Mental Disability Advocacy Center is in the Lithuanian capital this week, holding two trainings for local NGOs including disabled people’s organisations and Ombudsman officials.  

MDAC held a two day training event. The first day focused on equipping participants with the neccessary tools on how civil society can write a “parallel report” (otherwise known as a “shadow” or “alternative” report) to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee). During the training, participants strengthened their knowledge about the role of writing such a report, identified the key components of an effective parallel report, initiated the process for writing a parallel report to the CRPD Committee by civil society in Lithuania, and explored advocacy opportunities beyond the UN system. The training drew on MDAC’s experiences in 2010 when it contributed to such a similar report written by the  Hungarian Disability Caucus, and earlier this year when it trained NGOs in the Czech Republic on how to write effective parallel reports and engage with the UN system. 

On day two, participants learnt about alternatives to guardianship and specifically about the elements of supported decision-making. The objectives were to strengthen participants’ knowledge on legal capacity as set out in Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to identify barriers to human rights-compliant legal capacity legislation. The training enabled Lithuanian civil society to discuss and strategise ways in which to overcome these barriers.

For more information on either of these topics or if your organisation is interested in partnering in such capacity-building events, please contact mdac@mdac.org