Young Voices
Young Voices is a project of the Leonard Cheshire Disability Global Alliance initiated in 2005. The Leonard Cheshire Disability Global Alliance is made up of 250 organisations in more than 50 countries, which advocates and assumes the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities worldwide. Prior to the existence of this project, it became apparent that the voices of Young Persons with Disabilities were not being heard across the globe and the Alliance wanted to do something about it. They set up a series of consultative workshops in 12 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and current activities have now expanded to include 18 countries. As one of the members of the Leonard Cheshire Disability Global Alliance, PhilCOCHED was chosen to operate and manage the Young Voices project on behalf of the Philippines.
The first 2 years of the project (2005 – 2007), coincided with the final drafting up of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD); a global convention between countries, or states, which indicates how persons with disabilities should be treated. The UNCRPD covers all aspects of the life of a person with disabilities including social, economic, educational and housing interests.
During these 2 pilot years the Young Voices project in the Philippines conducted a series of workshops inviting young persons with disabilities to discuss personal experiences and issues that they face, to develop a position statement and action agenda identifying these key issues and how they might start a process to enable them to be overcome and who should be involved. In addition they were invited to learn about and discuss the UN Convention, and use it as an advocacy framework to raise concern about their rights as well as to influence policy.
One of the highlights of these early years was the opportunity in 2006 for PhilCOCHED staff involved in the Young Voices project to attend the 8th Ad Hoc Committee on the Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities at the UN Headquarters in New York, USA. A Young Voices side event was organised in order to bring to attention the real-life experiences of these young persons with disabilities in the Philippines as well as other regions and how sharing these experiences might influence the contents of the UNCRPD.
From these beginnings the Inclusive Youth Center was borne, a group of young persons with and without disabilities. For further information regarding the Inclusive Youth Center please click here
For more information about the Global activities of the Young Voices programmes in other countries please click here for the Leonard Cheshire Disability website