Our Work
2022
Year in Review
HPOD has worked to advance the understanding of disability law, policy, and education around the world since 2004. Last year, HPOD continued to build on its nearly two decades of research, advocacy, capacity-building, and awareness-raising activities by undertaking research at the intersection of climate justice and disability, launching a program for self-advocates to engage in research, and much more!
Research
Over the past year, HPOD continued its ongoing research and writing activities to produce salient information for policymakers and civil society stakeholders to address key disability rights issues on international humanitarian law, climate change, special education, COVID-19, and beyond.
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Towards Disability-Inclusive Climate Resilience
Governments around the world are failing to adopt disability-inclusive climate adaptation and mitigation strategies, even though climate change disproportionately affects persons with disabilities. For example,
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War Crime and No Punishment?
Violence during armed conflict disproportionately affects persons with disabilities. In 2019, the United Nations (UN) Security Council recognized as much in its landmark Resolution 2475,
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Transfer of Rights under the IDEA
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) allows states to transfer parents’ rights under the IDEA to students with disabilities receiving special education services
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Disability, Human Rights, and Climate Justice
To date, "[d]isability has largely been excluded from international climate change negotiations as well as national-level discharge of climate-related measures," as HPOD's Senior
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Disability and Armed Conflict in Colombia
Disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) processes aim to transition fighting forces into their peaceful and productive post-conflict communities. DDR processes entail not just laying
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Disability Rights and Crimes Against Humanity
Persons with disabilities have historically been subjected to egregious human rights violations, including in armed conflict. The Nazis systematically euthanized some 300,000 persons with disabilities and
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Respecting Autonomy in Health Care, Research, and All Areas of Life
To borrow the opening lines of a recent Current History piece by HPOD associate Chester Finn, Executive Director Professor Michael Ashley Stein, and Director of
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Youth with Disabilities in Zimbabwe
Over 120 million youth with disabilities around the world face challenges related to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, such as unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections,
Events
In addition to HPOD’s annual fall open house, throughout the year HPOD organized a series of academic and educational events addressing important issues at the intersection of mental health and legal capacity, the rights of deaf persons, disability cause lawyering, climate change, political participation, and social isolation. Catch up on any events you may have missed below!
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Combating Isolation: The Idea of a Right to Belong
In her recently published book, On Belonging: Finding Connection in an Age of Isolation, Kim Samuel, Founder of the Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness,
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Rights of Voters with Intellectual Disabilities in the United States
In the 2020 United States presidential election, voters with disabilities turned out in record numbers. Despite significant challenges to registering or voting in person during the
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Disability Climate Justice
An estimated one billion people with disabilities globally are uniquely and disproportionately impacted by the climate change crisis, and yet the field of disability and
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Mental Health, Legal Capacity, and Human Rights
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) continues to play a substantial role globally in shaping mental health policy making
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Global Disability Cause Lawyering
Adopted by the United Nations in 2006, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has inspired a new generation of lawyers to advance
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Universal Deaf Access
On March 2, 2022, HPOD hosted an interdisciplinary all-deaf panel that discussed strategies for promoting greater access for and representation of the deaf community in the
Advocacy
HPOD also supported advocacy efforts to promote initiatives advancing disability rights, particularly in the areas of disability rights history, climate change, special education, and protections against ill-treatment.
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Right to Education for Students with Disabilities
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) enshrines the right to inclusive education, marking an important development in the international human
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Investigating Claims of Ill-Treatment by Persons with Disabilities
Earlier this month, the European Court of Human Rights rendered judgment in P.H. v. Slovakia, finding the state responsible for failing to conduct an
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Disability-Inclusive Climate Action
As demonstrated by the exclusion of an Israeli delegate with disabilities from the COP26 proceedings, “[d]isability has largely been excluded from international climate
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Mobilizing DPOs in Bangladesh
International human rights treaties do not automatically make changes in the lives of the people they protect, and the United Nations Convention on
Capacity Building
One of HPOD’s core remits is to strengthen the self-advocacy movement by building the capacity of self-advocacy organizations through trainings and technical support. Notably, last year, through a generous gift from the Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness, and in partnership with Massachusetts Advocates Standing Strong, HPOD launched its “self-advocates in research” program to empower self-advocates to strengthen their advocacy through research.
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COVID-19 Experiences of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities in Group Homes
The COVID-19 pandemic has been hard for everyone, but especially for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD). We have been denied access to life-saving
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Politics and Persons with Intellectual Disabilities
This guide contains information in easy read format for persons with intellectual disabilities about their right to political participation and what self-advocates around the
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Supported Decision-Making Is about Us
Massachusetts Advocates Standing Strong (MASS) is an organization made up of self-advocates across Massachusetts. It has a board of self-advocates that make the big decisions
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Self-Determination & Voting
At its roots, self-determination is about having a voice and a choice. Most people with disabilities have had to fight to enjoy this basic human
Community
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Professor Michael Ashley Stein Honored by Harvard University
On May 22nd, Professor Michael Ashley Stein received the inaugural Excellence in Accessibility and Inclusion Faculty Award as part of Harvard University's first
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Anne Fracht Appointed to Special Commission on State Institutions
On April 19th, HPOD's Self-Advocacy Associate, Anne Fracht, was sworn in as a member of the Special Commission on State Institutions nominated by