Mr. Charlie Lamson:

I thank the Chairman and committee members for the invitation and giving me the privilege and opportunity to present to them and answer their questions. I am the chief executive of Sightsavers Ireland and a member of the board of Dóchas. I am accompanied by Ms Fatoumata Diouf, Sightsavers' regional director for west Africa, who oversees Irish Aid projects on the ground. She will present our position to the committee.

Sightsavers Ireland fully endorses the submission made by the Dóchas group with which we have worked for several years to promote disability inclusion in Irish development policy. For too long disability has been an afterthought in development policy, which has had the paradoxical impact of leaving people with disabilities in developing countries even further behind their peers. The policy document, A Better World, combined with Ireland's ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, better known as the UNCRPD, offers us a golden opportunity to address this issue, not only to hardwire disability into Irish Aid programmes but also to allow Ireland to be an example in encouraging others to follow suit. As the Dóchas submission highlights, we warmly welcome the acknowledgement of disability in A Better World. In that regard, we would be particularly grateful for the committee's support in clarifying that disability, especially in the case of women and girls, is included within the policy's overarching commitment to reach first those who are furthest behind.

Under the theme of no one will be left behind, I amplify the asks in the Dóchas submission surrounding engagement and the participation of people with disabilities who must be at the heart of the policy's development and implementation. I highlight the critical need for a rights based approach consistent with the UNCRPD and the sustainable development goals. I also hope the committee will work to ensure an integrated approach to the collection of data for disability inclusion in the areas of development and humanitarian assistance that commits to the collection of disaggregated data, research and learning and reports, including on the adoption of the Development Assistance Committee's disability marker.

In June 2018 the OECD released the DAC disability marker to track implementation of overseas development policy. The Government has a key role to play in ensuring data for persons with disabilities are collected and used to inform the mainstreaming of disability inclusion across its development and humanitarian assistance programming and funding streams. To ensure international comparability over time, we recommend the application of the short set of questions developed by the Washington group. In implementing its policy Ireland should adopt and use the OECD DAC disability marker when reporting on expenditure and establish internal disability reporting mechanisms for partners.

In order for Ireland to be clear on how it will achieve its ambitious vision in the new policy, there is a need for a clear process for accountability such as the framework of action which accompanied the previous policy One World, One Future. We also recognise the crucial role of this committee in ensuring accountability.

On Ireland’s role globally, we call on all of its relevant stakeholders to play a leading role in delivering disability inclusive development globally. Through its policy, the Government should consider how it will support the UN disability inclusion strategy which wasrecently launched at the 2019 Conference of States Parties to the UNCRPD and use its membership of the Global Action on Disability Network, GLAD, to support global initiatives such as those made at the Global Disability Summit in London in 2018.

We would be extremely grateful for the committee’s support as it carries out its work in this area. We would like to offer our ongoing assistance in any way we can, including an invitation to visit our projects in Senegal and Cameroon to enable members to see the challenges people with disabilities face on a daily basis, as well as the support we are working to provide for them.

I again thank the committee for the invitation to appear before it. We will be pleased to answer the questions members may have.