Part Nine (IX)
Enabling human rights and policy: international politics
Chapter 29:
Implementation of CRPD in the post-Soviet region: between imitation and authenticity
Egle Sumskiene
Associate Professor
Egle Sumskiene is Associate Professor, Head of the Social Work and Social Welfare De-partment, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University. She is a social worker, sociologist and expert on disability, mental health and human rights issues. As an expert she was involved in various international and national projects focusing on such areas as human rights and disability, discrimination, mental health care, policy, social integration of people with psy-chosocial disabilities. She is editor of one monograph and author of over 20 scientific publi-cations covering issues of human rights, disability and mental health.
To learn more:
To learn more about Egle Sumskiene read: http://globalyoungacademy.net/egle-sumskiene/
Access her academic work: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Egle_Sumskiene
Watch a video (in Lithuanian): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY_Y54xRunM
Violeta Gevorgianiene
Associate Professor
Violeta Gevorgianiene is Associate Professor in the Department of Social Work and Social Welfare, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University since 2000. She has a background of educational sciences and social work and is an expert on disability issues. In 2009, she was elected as the member of the Executive Committee of the European Association of Schools of Social Work and served in this position up to 2017. She has authored over 20 scientific publications and learning materials for persons with disabilities. Her research i nterests also include competences of social work, social work education, socio-cultural identity and migration.
To learn more:
To read about Violeta Gevorgianiene’s work: http://www.eassw.org/team/violeta-gevorgianiene/
Access her academic work: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Violeta_Gevorgianiene
Read “P.S. for post-Soviet: A glimpse to a life of persons with intellectual disabilities”: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1744629517701561?journalCode=jldc
Rasa Geniene
Ph.D Candidate
Rasa Geniene is a PhD Candidate of the Social Work and Social Welfare Department, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University, focusing on the deinstitutionalisation of residential care and the development of community-based services for people with mental/intellectual disabilities. Before, she worked for a non-governmental organisation, which initiated piloting and development of good practices of community service models. Currently, Rasa is working in the Ministry of Social Security and Labor of the Republic of Lithuania, where she explores and operates the issues of transition from institutional care to family and community services for people with disabilities which has a direct link with her dissertation.
To learn more:
Read about the reform of institutional care in Lithuania: http://www.journals.vu.lt/STEPP/article/view/9818
Read about the latest work Rasa has been involved with: http://europeinaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/VILTIS_leidinys_V8.pdf
Chapter 30:
Swedish disability activism: from welfare to human rights?
Marie Sépulchre
researcher
Marie Sépulchre is a researcher at the Department of Sociology of Uppsala University, Sweden. Her research interests centre on citizenship, disability, activism and structural inequalities. Marie’s work has been published in international peer-reviewed journals such as Alter – European Journal of Disability Research, the Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, Disability and Rehabilitation, and Disability and Society. She recently completed her PhD at Uppsala University, with a dissertation entitled: This is not Citizenship: Analysing the Claims of Disability Activists in Sweden.
To learn more:
About Marie Sépulchre from her website: http://katalog.uu.se/profile/?id=N13-1402
Access her publications: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marie_Sepulchre
Read her PhD on disability activism in Sweden: http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1302891&dswid=7221
Read or listen to: “Tensions and unity in the struggle for citizenship: Swedish disability rights activists claim ‘Full Participation! Now!’: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2018.1440194
Twitter: @SepulchreMarie
Lars Lindberg
Disability Activist
Lars Lindberg is an activist in the Swedish disability movement and Senior Adviser at Nordic Welfare Center. His work centres on human rights, disability policy and activism.
To learn more:
Read about Lars Lindberg’s work: http://www.independentliving.org/25years2008lindberg
Listen to a podcast: http://podtail.com/en/podcast/day-in-washington-the-disability-policy-podcast/lars-lindberg-sweden-s-disability-policy-day-in-wa/
Read some of Lars’ columns (in Swedish): https://www.funktionshinderpolitik.se/author/larslindberg/
Access Lars’ Linkedin profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindberglars/
Twitter: @larslindberg
Chapter 31:
Gendered disability advocacy: lessons from the Girl Power Programme in Sierra Leone
Emma Frobisher
Junior Researcher
Emma Frobisher is a Junior Researcher and a doctoral fellow at the African Studies Centre at Leiden University. She holds a Master’s degree in Development, with a major in Social Policy for Development, from the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam, from where she graduated in December 2016. She has also worked in various NGO roles in the UK, Peru and Malaysia.
To learn more:
To read about Emma Frobisher’s work: http://www.ascleiden.nl/organization/people/emma-frobisher
About her work in Sierra Leone: http://voice4thought.org/emma-frobisher/
One Family People: http://www.facebook.com/OneFamilyPeople/
Willem Elbers
research Fellow
Willem Elbers is senior research fellow at the African Studies Centre at Leiden University (Netherlands) since 2015, where he heads two research projects on advocacy in the global South. While one of these projects examines advocacy strategies targeting the rights of children with disabilities in Sierra Leone, Cameroon and Zambia, the other focuses on the role of international agencies in enabling and constraining local advocacy on the ground. Willen is also the coordinator of the Advanced Master in International Development, a post- graduate programme seeking to enable excellent MA-graduates to pursue a career in the field of international development.
To learn more:
Read about Willem Elbers on his website: http://www.ascleiden.nl/organization/people/willem-elbers
Read “Advocacy for disability: Can participation enhance outcomes?” http://www.barriersfree.org/uploads/media/5aa02090cb11c/can-participation-enhance-outcomes.pdf
Auma Okwany
ASSISTANT Professor
Auma Okwany teaches Social Policy for Development at the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands (ISS-EUR). Her teaching and research interests centre on the relationship between policy, practice and theory for children, girlhood studies, youth and their families in contexts of risk and marginalisation. She is the Lead researcher for Tanzania on the Oak Foundation-funded two-year research project; ‘Adolescent Perceptions on Healthy Relationships in Tanzania and Bulgaria.’ She is also the Overall Director of the four-year Netherlands Government funded EUR-ISS project, ‘Strengthening Education and Training capacity in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Uganda.’
To learn more:
Read about Auma Okwany on her personal website: http://www.eur.nl/people/auma-okwany
Chapter 32:
‘We need not remake the past’: rebuilding the disability movement in Toronto, Canada
Melissa Graham
Community ACTIVIST
Melissa Graham is the founder and one of the key organizers for the Toronto Disability Pride March. Melissa is a social worker and community activist involved in disability issues throughout Ontario, including her position as Vice-President of Citizens with Disabilities Ontario. She is also a recipient of an Ontario Volunteer Service Award for 2018. She has previously written about disability issues in national publications such as The Monitor and Our Times Magazine, as well as on her blog, ‘Sit Down, Fight Back’.
To learn more:
Read Melissa Graham’s blog: http://melissagraham.ca/
Watch a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTHAffzO67w
Toronto Disability Pride March: http://torontodisabilitypride.wordpress.com/author/4wheelgoddess/
Listen to Melissa talking about the Toronto Disability Pride March: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQbr-SygKJw
Twitter: @mel_graham