Ms Sarah McNabb:

We welcome the opportunity to participate in the discussion on transition from advocacy to self-advocacy.

Self-advocacy is a broad term, encompassing individuals and disabled people's organisations, DPOs, advocating for the rights of the disabled community, or the personal advocacy needed to secure individual supports and access. It is of crucial importance that any disabled person who wishes to engage in self-advocacy is empowered to do so, but it is equally important that this is a choice and not an obligation. Advocacy is a skill which takes time and energy to exercise. Of late, we have encountered institutions and systems which prioritise teaching people to self-advocate to overcome the obstacles embedded in the system over the decision-makers using their power to remove these obstacles. This places the burden in regard to access on each disabled person's shoulders and does nothing to improve conditions for those coming after them.

Equal opportunity for self-advocacy must be fully and actively expanded to all, including to those living in congregated settings, non-speakers, and those who require decision-making supports. Personal advocacy requires information about individual options and rights, accessible and flexible systems to realise personal choices, support to express individual preferences, and freedom from negative consequences.

Community or human rights advocacy is best realised through empowering disabled people to build their own representative organisations, such as DPOs and campaigning groups. While individual advocates can bring exceptional expertise to the conversation, individual advocacy cannot replace collective representation in influencing structural change. Disabled women, girls and other gender minorities need specific representation in order to meaningfully advocate on the issues impacting our lives, as do ethnic minorities and children. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD, general comment 7 specifies an additional obligation to prioritise and capacity-build these groups.

In order for gender-representative DPOs to do our work, we need access to information on gendered differences and inequalities. We also need access to the skills necessary for work on policy development, campaigning, outreach, administration and awareness-raising. Most importantly, we need resources to consult with, mentor and empower our members so that we can ensure that all disabled women are represented and reflected in our work.

It is time for the State to put its money where its mouth is, and meet its financial obligations under general comment 7. We must also recognise the numerous other barriers that exist to self-advocacy, including limited energy, caring resources, financial barriers, etc.

There is huge pressure on disabled advocates to be the positive face of disability, to greet prejudice with polite grace and patience, or risk being labelled unreasonable. We hope that today’s meeting offers the opportunity to discuss some of these concepts in greater depth, so that we can begin to create the systems and supports necessary to allow disabled people to engage in self-advocacy, either individually or through DPOs, and the support needed to enable and support DPOs to perform their functions under UNCRPD.