South Sudan Union of Persons with Disabilities (SSUPD), in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, with support from NAD, organized one day stakeholders meeting in an effort to strengthen collaboration and harmonization among stakeholders, The quarterly partners meetings brought together the 4 OPDs, 3 UN Agencies, 12 INGOs, 9 NNGOs, 3 civil society organizations, and 7 representatives of the State and National Government.

The Establishment of effective coordination mechanisms Facilitated the created a platforms for collaboration between partners and other relevant organizations; including INGOs, local NGOs and women’s organizations, OPDs that helps to  create synergies, align goals, share best practices, and solve problems between the partners implementing disability programs.

ADF representative (Chandiga John) facilitated a session to the participants during the meeting on:

Introductions to Organizations of persons with Disabilities (OPDs),Types of OPDs. Roles of OPDs, Structures of OPDs/Networking. Example of OPD and Why work with OPDs?.

The session objective was to lobby for involvement of OPDs in partnership. Traditionally, persons with disabilities & their organizations had decisions made on their behalf by service providers, policy makers and professionals but Legally,  The CRPD imposes the legal obligation for meaningful involvement of persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations, in all spheres of life, including international cooperation .

Technical: Persons with disabilities are best placed to identify the actual barriers they face, and to find innovative solutions. Therefore, involving their representative organizations is essential.

As such, involvement of OPDs will help to ensure that the approach to disability, inclusion &  accessibility will be coherent between the national level and international policies & programmes.