Policy paper

International Foundation for Electoral Systems

Published 23 July 2018

This was published under the 2016 to 2019 May Conservative government

Form for submitting commitments for the Global Disability Summit 2018

IMPORTANT: Please refer to the accompanying guidance note for advice on completing this form and please fill in all four sections in English.

Your organisation:

Type of organisation: Other

If other: International non-profit organization

Name of organisation International Foundation for Electoral Systems

Charter for Change

Please read the attached Summit Charter for Change: the principal legacy of the Summit. If your organisation is happy to sign up to the Charter, please confirm by putting a cross in the box below.

My organisation signs up to the Summit Charter for Change ☒

Your organisation’s commitments to achieve the rights of people with disabilities in developing countries:

A. Commitments to eliminate Stigma and Discrimination

Please select the category which your commitment most relates to: Representation and empowerment of persons with disabilities Please enter the exact wording of the commitment/s, including details of others who has supported its development (75 words limit): The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), in partnership with the Pacific Disability Forum (PDF) and Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), will establish a regional network to empower people with disabilities to participate in elections and political processes. The network will draw on lessons learned and good practices from other regional networks, such as the General Election Network for Disability Access in Southeast Asia (AGENDA).

Timeframe and/or implementation plan (75 words limit)

IFES, PDF and PIF intend to begin collaborating on this network in 2019.

Please copy and paste this box for additional commitments under this theme.

B. Commitments for Technology and Innovation

C. Commitments for Women and Girls with Disabilities: Please select the category which your commitment most relates to: Other

Please enter the exact wording of the commitment/s, including details of others who have supported its development (75 words limit):

The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) will partner with Gallaudet University’ MA Program in International Development and Department of Linguistics to develop an American Sign Language (ASL) translation of IFES’ English-language electoral lexicon for ElectionAccess.org. The lexicon will include common political participation terminology. It will also include videos from electoral sign language lexicons developed in the following countries: Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe.

Timeframe and/or implementation plan (75 words limit)

A graduate student from Gallaudet will join IFES for a practicum in September 2018 to begin work on the translation of the electoral lexicon. Interdisciplinary Gallaudet faculty will supervise the student’s output. It is expected that the lexicon will be finalized in early 2019.

Please copy and paste this box for additional commitments under this theme.

Please enter the exact wording of the commitment/s, including details of others who have supported its development (75 words limit): The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) will systematically integrate disability into its Violence against Women in Elections (VAWIE) assessment framework. The framework identifies and addresses the unique issues related to gender-based election violence. Recognizing that women with disabilities experience additional and/or different security barriers, IFES will develop new questions and guidance to ensure that women with disabilities are included in every VAWIE analysis, including online sentiment analysis.

Timeframe and/or implementation plan (75 words limit)

A pilot will be conducted in late 2018, with additional implementations in 2019.

Please copy and paste this box for additional commitments under this theme.

D. Other Commitments

Please enter the exact wording of any other commitment/s that do not fall under the themes above, including details of others who have supported its development (75 words limit): The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) will become a member the US International Council on Disability (USICD), a network of organizations that promotes inclusion of disability perspectives in US foreign policy and aid.

Please copy and paste this box for additional other commitments.