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USICD's 2016 Gala to Celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities
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USICD will host our third annual gala on December 1, 2016 in celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The Gala will be held at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Hall of Flags in Washington, D.C.
At this special event, we celebrate the 2016 Honorees!
global disability rights movement.
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| | Senator Al Franken |
We honor those American policymakers with the Dole-Harkin Award for distinction in public service to the global disability community. And we honor an overseas disability rights advocate for outstanding work in advancing the rights, opportunities, and dignity of persons with disabilities.
This year we are thrilled to honor Senator Al Franken of Minnesota, Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington State, and Guatemalan Disability Rights Advocate Silvia Quan.
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| | Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers |
The annual USICD gala brings together disability rights advocates, legislative leaders, new and long-term donors, business and philanthropic
leaders, and other friends of USICD and the global disability community.
Visit our Gala web page to learn more about this year's honorees and to receive exciting updates!
Ready to purchase your ticket?
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| | Guatemalan Advocate Silvia Quan
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| USICD's Youth in International Development and Foreign Affairs Internship Program Opens for Applications! |
The summer 2017 Youth in International Development and Foreign Affairs internship program is open for applications until January 10, 2017. USICD's internship program focuses on U.S. citizen youth with disabilities from across the country who intend to pursue careers in international development or foreign affairs.  The summer 2017 internship program will bring a group of talented U.S. citizen graduate students, recent graduates, and rising juniors and seniors with disabilities to Washington, D.C., for nine weeks. This will include a one-week training and orientation program followed by an eight-week internship at an international organization in the Washington, D.C., area. USICD will cover the cost of accessible housing during the program, reimburse travel expenses to and from D.C., and provide a limited stipend. To learn more about the Youth in International Development and Foreign Affairs internship program, eligibility criteria, anticipated dates, and the application process, please visit http://usicd.org/template/page.cfm?id=257. USICD thanks the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation for their support for this initiative! Application deadline for USICD's summer 2017 internship program is January 10, 2017. |
| What is your Senate candidate's position on CRPD ratification? | |
With national elections coming up next week, USICD is asking candidates in open races for election to the U.S. Senate one question: What is your position on U.S. ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)?
The CRPD is the first international agreement among countries to uphold and protect the human rights of people with disabilities.
So far 167 countries have ratified the CRPD, but the U.S. has not yet joined them. The U.S. can only ratify an international treaty if a "super majority" two-thirds of the Senate votes in support of ratification.
Senate candidates's responses are posted on our website. Visit now to learn if the candidates for your state support the CRPD. The website provides details on whether they support U.S. ratification, whether they oppose ratification, and also lists non-responsive candidates. Check to see if your State candidates have responded to our question yet. If they have not responded, then we need your help! Reach out to the campaign teams for the Senate candidates in your state and ask them to respond to USICD's question on whether they support U.S. ratification of Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
USICD's CRPD Education & Advocacy program is not possible without community support. Will you help us?
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Delegates from Six Countries Convene in Washington, DC, to Activate Disability Rights Implementation at Home!
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USICD, in partnership with three other leading U.S. organizations, hosted a delegation of 25 disability rights leaders from six countries to Washington, DC, for the RightsNow!: Exploring the U.S. Model Conference in September 2016.
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| | | RightsNow delegates take turns speaking | |
This prestigious and
The conference brought together delegations from six countries--Armenia, Guatemala, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, and Vietnam. Participants learned best practices for disability inclusion; not only in the U.S., but also in the other countries represented at the conference. Disabled people's organization and government representatives from the same country assessed and prioritized the most urgent advocacy, policy, and programming needs of the disability communities in their country.
Some of the most powerful lessons reported were that the barriers and frustrations experienced by people with disabilities are common
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| | Country teams meet to discuss disability rights and priorities at home |
across all countries. And, disability communities from all countries are a creative fount of ideas and strategies for resolving these challenges. Delegates left the conference with ideas for implementation at home.
The RightsNow! project is administrated by Mobility International USA, which works in partnership with USICD, the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) and the International Foundation on Electoral Systems (IFES) to implement the project. Learn more about the project at http://usicd.org/index.cfm/rightsnow
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| WANTED: Marketing and Public Communications Intern! | |
Are you a brilliantly talented, emerging professional in the field of marketing and/or public relations? Ready to channel your innovative resourcefulness for the benefit of an organization dedicated to promoting the human rights of people with disabilities around the world? Then you might be the right fit for USICD's opening for a Marketing and Public Communications Intern!
Take the lead in raising the public visibility of USICD's training manual, Engaging Workers with Disabilities at International Organizations, particularly among human resources personnel and managers at U.S.-based international non-governmental organizations. Raise USICD's overall visibility in the international development community as a source of knowledge, training, and technical assistance in disability inclusion in the work place, disability inclusion in international development programming, knowledge curation in disability rights, and disability inclusion in US foreign affairs and relations.
Learn more about the position and how to apply. |
| USICD Member, Disability Rights International, Featured in The Guardian |
A recent article in The Guardian features Disability Rights International (DRI), a USICD organizational member that has worked for years to end the institutionalization of all children, especially children with disabilities. Their argument is that even the best institutions cannot provide the loving, nurturing stability of a family, and not nearly enough institutions are among "the best."
The years long campaign of DRI has highlighted and documented rampant abuse against children with disabilities across many institutions in many countries around the world, including the U.S. DRI has also assisted governments with closing some institutions and with creating healthier, happier living arrangements for children. However, many institutions remain open and continue to perpetuate profound neglect and abuse.
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| Two-Month Commemorative Rally Remembers Victims of Attack on Care Facility Residents | |
Recently the Japan national assembly member of Disabled People's International (DPI), DPI-Japan, held a commemorative rally in the middle of Tokyo for the victims and survivors of the atrocity that took place in an institution for people with severe disabilities in Sagamihara, Japan. People from across Japan supported the rally with cards and flowers for the 19 people with disabilities killed in the July 26 attack and the 26 people with disabilities who were wounded.
Learn more about the recent two-month commemorative rally at
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| Quito Made History for Disability Equality, Inclusive Cities and Inclusive Society at HABITAT III | |
A unique live aerial human art project: INCLUSION: A Vision for Unity made history at the United Nations Habitat III.
By using over 300 diverse participants joining together from Quito and around the world on Tuesday, October 18 at 3:00 pm, the word INCLUSION was photographed from above using a drone.
Diplomats, architects and engineers from the conference joined in the innovative event with other local and international attendees.
The project, held at the El Arbolito Park Fountain, was directed by the internationally renowned artist John Quigley, producer and human rights activist. Dr. Victor Pineda, President of World ENABLED, engaged with participants as 170 locally sourced umbrellas were distributed and everyone formed the letters of the word INCLUSION.
The event was designed to elevate the way in which people think about inclusion around the world; to show that cities should be accessible and inclusive to all people with disabilities; and that people with disabilities should be included in all urban development and planning process.
Read more details about the conference
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| USICD and MIUSA Host Vietnam Visitors |
Working in collaboration with USICD member, Mobility International USA (MIUSA), USICD recently hosted visitors from Vietnam to learn about U.S. approaches to promoting  disability rights.
USICD Executive Director, David Morrissey, joined a panel of US-based experts to share the U.S. experience in implementing disability rights. The Vietnamese visitors were government officials and representatives from civil society. All shared an interest in improving the implementation of disability rights in their country, and in learning from the experiences of other countries with similar challenges.
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| Marca Bristo, Past USICD President, Appointed to Obama Foundation Inclusion Council |
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| | Marca Bristo
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USICD would like to extend a heartfelt congratulations to Marca Bristo on her recent appointment to the Obama Foundation Inclusion Council, a council focusing on diversity issues through the upcoming Obama Presidential Center.
Marca is a past president of USICD, a current member of USICD's Board of Directors, and is current President and CEO of Access Living in Chicago. In a recent press release, the Obama Foundation remarked that the Obama Foundation Inclusion Council "will provide analysis and recommendations for developing, monitoring, and executing diversity and inclusion initiatives."
Marca has been with Access Living for more than 30 years since she helped found the organization in 1980, and is considered a pioneer of the disability rights movement in Chicago. She also served as chair of the National Council on Disability from 1994-2002. More recently, she played a key role in organizing the ADA25 Chicago initiative, which sought to expand disability inclusion in Chicago to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (which she helped draft). We could not be more proud of Marca and this most recent accomplishment.
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| USICD Board Member, Candace Cable, selected Vice Chair of the LA2024 Bid Team! |
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| | | Rio Tom & Candace Cable | |
USICD congratulates USICD Board Member, Candace Cable, on her position as Vice Chair of LA2024 bid team! The LA2024 bid team hopes to bring the Summer Olympics and Paralympics to Los Angeles.
USICD also congratulates Candace for completing a successful trip to Rio 2016 Paralympic Games to take part in the Observers Program and Inclusion Summit!
An accomplished athlete and a pioneer in the sport of wheelchair racing, Candace has competed in 9 Winter and Summer Paralympics Games and 3 Olympics Games, during which she won a total of 14 medals and became the first American to medal in the Winter and Summer Paralympic games in 1992. Her athletic career encompassed 84 marathon wins, around the world, including 6 first place finishes in the Boston Marathon.
Candace retired from competitive Paralympic sport in 2006, and is currently a disability awareness and access trainer for the Open Doors Organization, a writer and webinar host. Additionally, she serves as Paralympic skiing representative on the U.S. Olympic Committee Athlete Advisory Council, as a consultant to UNICEF, and as UN representative to the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation (an organization serving those with spinal cord injuries). We are very proud of her most recent addition to her already noteworthy list of accomplishments. You will have the opportunity to meet Candace at the USICD Gala this year! Purchase your tickets today!!
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| David Morrissey Presents to International Federation on Spina Bifida & Hydrocephalus |  USICD Executive Director David Morrissey attended the October 2016 meeting of the International Federation on Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus in Ghent, Belgium. David copresented a session on aging with Spina Bifida. He also serves in the Federation's human rights seat for its Global Experts Panel. |
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