Organizational Review of International Disability Alliance

The joint review of International Disability Alliance (IDA) was commissioned by Norad, Sida and FCDO and took place from November 2022 to April 2023. It was carried out as a limited review to supplement the due diligence assessments carried out by FCDO in 2019 and 2022. The objective was to assess primarily the IDA sub-grant management system and partnership model with the aim of verifying improvements since the December 2019 due diligence assessment, as well as identifying areas still in need of strengthening. The review covered sub-grants managed by IDA from multiple donor agencies during the period from 2019 to date. The review also provided recommendations to IDA and donor agencies.

The main purpose of IDA is to advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities (PWD) based on the vision of “a society which values diversity, respects equality and realizes the full potential of persons with disabilities in order to build a better world for all”, and a mission “to advance the human rights of persons with disabilities as a united voice of organizations of persons with disabilities as expressed in the UN CRPD and other human rights instruments”. Today, IDA’s aim is to promote the effective and full implementation of the UN Convention of Rights for Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) worldwide, as well as ensure compliance with the CRPD within the UN system, through the active and coordinated involvement of representative organizations of persons with disability (OPD) at the national, regional and international levels. IDA is working to ensure that the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are realized in line with the UN CRPD. IDA supports OPDs in engaging with UN human rights processes in Geneva and New York, including Treaty Bodies, Universal Periodic Reviews and the Human Rights Council. IDA supports OPDs at national and regional levels through trainings and disseminating resources and information.
The IDA was established in 1999 as a network of global OPDs and their families with the purpose of advocating for disability rights. It is since 2013 legally registered in Switzerland as a non-governmental and non-profit making organization. IDA’s membership currently consists of 14 members, including founding members; full members (global and regional organizations); observer members (organizations applying for membership); associate members (national umbrella organizations; and emeritus members (individuals). The membership is dynamic and adaptive to the changes in context. In 2007, IDA opened for regional organizations to become full members, and recent discussions have opened for associate membership of national umbrella organizations.