UN Agencies partner with organizations of persons with disabilities to promote more inclusive services and the rights of persons with disabilities

Dili, Timor-Leste — On Tuesday, October 30th, the United Nations in Timor-Leste, through its initiative Empower for Change, launched new partnerships with national organizations of persons with disabilities, the Asosiasaun Defisiensia Timor-Leste (ADTL), The Leprosy Mission Timor-Leste (TLMTL) and the Community-Based Rehabilitation Network (CBRN) to address and prevent violence against women and children with disabilities in Timor-Leste.

Through the partnerships, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) will support TLMTL and CBRN to develop a Toolkit to prevent and support more inclusive responses to violence against women and children with disabilities in Timor-Leste. This will complement support to ADTL led by the United Nations Human Rights Advisor’s Unit for developing a public campaign on the rights of persons with disabilities.

In his opening remarks, Roy Trivedy, the UN Resident Coordinator in Timor-Leste, highlighted that “The UN commits to working in partnership to address the barriers faced by persons with disabilities, to support their leadership in identifying and informing the support services that will better protect them from violence and enable them to contribute to their communities as leaders and collaborators for sustainable development”.The project partners with Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (DPOs), State Institutions and civil society towards two main objectives: reducing harmful attitudes that perpetuate tolerance of gendered discrimination against persons with disabilities and strengthening capacities of service providers to refer and deliver coordinated, inclusive and accessible services. The initiative works with the coordinating Ministry of Social Solidarity and Inclusion (MSSI), the Ministries of Education and Health, the National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC), the National Police and the Judiciary, among other institutions.

Armanda Berta dos Santos, the Minister of Social Solidarity and Inclusion (MSSI), said, “We’ve been trying to step up for the rights of persons with disabilities and ratify ‘Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’. I hope it will make it possible to have inclusive communities where persons with disabilities can be supported”.

The Empower for Change project is funded by the United Nations Partnership for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, from 2018 through 2020. It is implemented by UNFPA, UNICEF, the UN Human Rights Adviser’s Unit (HRAU), UN Women and the World Health Organization (WHO).