DAA - Disability Awareness in Action

"All people are born equal in freedom and dignity"

Disability Awareness in Action is an information network on disability and human rights.

We were set up in 1992 as a cooperative project of the international disability organisations responding to disabled people’s need for appropriate information.

OUR MISSION is to provide information and evidence to support disabled people in their own actions to secure their rights – at all levels: local, national, regional and international.

Our information comes from disabled people to disabled people.

Our information is used by disabled people and their organisations to develop and build their own self-help movement at the local and national level, to campaign for and influence social change and to understand their inalienable right to freedom and dignity.

Who we are

We are a very small team of disabled people, working from our own homes.

 

Rachel Hurst CBE

Director and co-founder of DAA,

For over 30 years, Rachel has worked locally, nationally and internationally in support of actions to ensure disabled people’s rights.  She was Chair of the first Centre for Independent Living in London, chaired Disabled Peoples’ International European Region and was a member of DPI’s World Council from 1987-2004.  She has worked with the UN, its agencies, governments, academics, policy-makers and the media on research and evidence gathering and campaigning for social change and the eradication of disablism.

 

Kate Light

Financial Officer

Kate was also a founder member of DAA as Administrator and assistant to the Director, particularly on assignments overseas.  In 1998 Kate left full-time work to bring up her children but remained as part time finance officer.  She has a wealth of experience of disability rights, the workings of the UN and the many disabled people who are engaged in the global struggle for rights.  She is also a Stage 3 BSL interpreter.

Bill Albert

Newsletter Editor

Bill Albert was born in the USA, but has lived in the UK since 1964. He was a founding member of the Norfolk Coalition of Disabled People (1995) which he chaired for seven years. At the end of 2008, he retired as the organisation's Chief Executive.

In 1999 he was appointed to the government's Human Genetics Commission and served for six years. He has chaired both DPI Europe's Bioethics Committee and the International Committee of the BCODP (now the UKDPC). He has also been active on disability and development issues and worked for about 5 years on various projects for the UK's Department of International Development.

 

Eleanor Lisney

Access and Information coordinator

Born and bred Malaysian Chinese, Eleanor has had a multi cultural background. She has lived, studied and worked in the United Kingdom, France and the United States.

Eleanor is an information specialist, much concerned with usability as well as web accessibility. She has also a Graduate Certificate: Inclusive Environmental Access and Design from Heriot Watt University. Currently she has set up a social enterprise, an inclusive travel advisory service, Connect Culture. She is actively engaging in disability and women groups in the West Midlands and is a member of the CDP (Council of Disabled People).

 

TRUSTEES

 

Tara Flood

Tara used to work for DAA as Information Coordinator but has since gone on to become Director of the Alliance for Inclusive Education, building on the experience she had with DAA of working on our Rights for Disabled Children project and with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.  Tara has a Masters in Disability Studies and was a gold, silver and bronze medallist in the Paralympics.  She has recently been awarded the Social Inclusion Campaigning Award from the Sheila McKechnie Foundation.

Tara is now working on lobbying the UK Government to remove the reservations and interpretative declarations on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and on its implementation.

 

Mark Harrison

Mark is Chair of the UK Disabled Peoples Council's International Committee. He has worked internationally on youth and social action programmes, especially in the former Soviet Union, as well as disability and development projects in sub-Saharan Africa. Currently he is the Chief Executive of the Norfolk Coalition of Disabled People.

 

Zara Todd

Zara has been actively involved disability rights issues for over 10 years. She has worked particularly around issues affecting disabled young people both in the UK and internationally.  Zara is currently a member of UKDPC international committee and the Commonwealth Young Disabled Peoples' Forum. She has recently completed a Masters in Eastern European studies.

Michelle Daley

Michelle is an independent disability equality trainer, consultant and a campaigner. She has worked for a number of organisations both at local, national and international level to develop, promote and implement policies on equality and diversity. She is also a founder member of the 2020 Campaign. For a number of years Michelle has actively worked at the grass root level addressing issues such as access, education, independent living and cultural diversity. She sits as the chair to her local disability organisation where she plays an important role ensuring that disability equality and diversity is at the forefront of practice and service delivery.

 

 

Jabulani Ncube

Until the end of March 2010, Jabulani NCUBE was the Deputy Chief Executive and Director of International Programmes of Action on Disability and Development (ADD). He's had over thirty years experience of activism for rights of people with disabilities in differing roles (founder member of the disability movement in Zimbabwe; executive director of a DPO in Zimbabwe; member and elected leadership positions of disabled people's organizations (DPOS) in Zimbabwe.

He's also worked with the disability movement with focus on Southern and Eastern Africa for 18 years in the areas of strategic thinking and planning, program development; implementation, monitoring, review and evaluation, mediation and conflict transformation.

A small seed of information creates a groundswell of activity

Our activities have included:

•    Monthly newsletter – the Disability Tribune. This was available until 2005 when we had to stop production due to lack of funds.  We have now started an e-newsletter ‘Our Rights’ which is available both on this website and via email.

•    Provision of Resource and Information Kits.

•    Promoting and marketing the International Day of Disabled Persons from 1993.

•    Setting up a unique database of violations of rights against disabled individuals. This has at present recorded over 2400 cases affecting 2.4 million disabled individuals, 32.7% of whom have been tortured or received degrading treatment and 10% denied the right to life.

•    Provision of reports, briefing papers etc. on violations and special issues, including bioethics and disability

•    Collection of evidence on examples of good practice in how to obtain rights

•    Participation in research using our archive of material and links with our readers.

•    Provision of consultation and training on equality and human rights issues.

•    Management of the work of Rights for Disabled Children group- focussing on evidence and research on the status of disabled children and working with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

•    Disability consultants to the European Commission and EURO & M on the Campaign for the European Year of Disabled Persons 2003.

•    Working with governments, UN agencies and other human rights and development groups to ensure that disabled people are included

•    Consultants to Scope in their transformation of policies, services and resources to an organisation to support equality and human rights for all disabled people.

•    Participating in the elaboration of a convention on the rights of disabled people through membership of the UK delegation.

•    Promoting and coordinating the UN Convention Campaign Coalition in the UK to ensure UK ratification without reservations

•    Membership of Disability Lib (Listen, Include, Build) an alliance of six DPOs and Scope to build the capacity of organisations within England. www.disabilitylib.org.uk

 

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