Disability and Development
The Nossal Institute for Global Health is committed to furthering the scope and quality of disability-inclusive development through capacity development, research, development program implementation and advocacy.
Capacity Development:
The Nossal Institute is committed to development of a workforce which can respond to the needs of disability inclusive development in Australia and internationally:
- Since 2003, the Nossal Institute has run Australia’s only accredited post-graduate subject in this sector, “Disability in Developing Countries”
- Under the Australian Leadership Award program, the Nossal Institute hosts educational visits from Fellows from the Asia-Pacific region, which have focussed on topics such as inclusion of people with disabilities in HIV prevention strategies.
- The Nossal Institute coordinates the “Disability in Developing Countries Interest Group”, an expanding network of professionals with experience and interest in disability-inclusive development. Activities include hosting professional development activities and regular email-based knowledge sharing.
Research:
Research focused on development effectiveness is a fundamental activity of the Nossal Institute. Together with CBM, Nossal jointly employs a disability research officer, who is developing a web-based toolkit for the inclusion of disability into the Millennium Development Goals. Research in the northeast of India led to the development of guidelines to foster disability-inclusive HIV/AIDS programs. We have supervised a range of student research projects on disability, including topics such as factors affecting mental health of adolescent boys in Tamil Nadu, factors related to social and economic participation amongst people affected by leprosy in Nepal, mainstreaming disability within World Vision development programs in India, a survey of disability in Nigeria, and the HIV related needs of people with disability in India.
Implementation:
The Nossal Institute is committed to practising and documenting experience in disability-inclusive development through programs such as the Aceh Partnerships in Health (APIH) project and Project ORCHID – an HIV prevention project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, working across two states in northeast India.
Advocacy:
• As a founding member of the Australian Disability and Development Consortium, the Nossal Institute has joined advocacy efforts which have contributed to AusAID’s adoption of a strategy for disability-inclusive development.
• Since 2003, the Nossal Institute has worked in partnership with like-minded organizations on advocacy for the inclusion of people with disabilities into mainstream development activities, including hosting annual seminars on Disability and Development.
CBM-Nossal Institute Parternership in Disability Inclusive Development
CBM Australia and the Nossal Institute for Global Health have been working together and separately in their respective areas of expertise to advocate for and support disability inclusive development practice. Together, the two organisations have run annual seminars on the issue and conducted various advocacy and capacity development activities.
The two organisations have now formed a Partnership that provides capacity development to multi-sectoral and specialist development organizations and others in their efforts towards disability-inclusive development. It collectively draws on technical, capacity building and research experience to support disability inclusive partnership development, policy and systems, training, tool development and resources.
Link to CBM/Nossal brochure
Link to Disability in Developing Countries short course
Previous Disability Related Activities
- Research and Learning Fund (RALF) We are at risk too – Fostering Disability-Inclusive HIV/AIDS programs
- Aceh Partnerships in Health Facility (APiH)
- Technical Assistance on Challenges, Issues and Strategy for Introduction of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) Vaccine within Cambodia
- AusAID Leadership Awards - Fellowship Program: Disability & HIV Stream
- India Disability Training
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