Disability Alliances for the Development of Comprehensive Reforms in the Region (DADIRR)

In January 2023, the Albanian Disability Rights Foundation, together with partner organizations in the Western Balkans, HANDIKOS Kosova, Polio Plus Macedonia and the Albanian National Association of Deaf People, have started the implementation of the project “Disability Alliances for the Development of Comprehensive Reforms in the Region” (DADIRR), which is implemented within the SMART Balkans regional program.

The Region­al Pro­gram, SMART Balka­ns – Civ­il soci­ety for shared soci­ety in the West­ern Balkans(SMART BALKANS: Shoqëria civile për vlera të për­bashkë­ta në Bal­lka­nin Perëndi­mor), which con­tributes to strength­en­ing par­tic­i­pa­to­ry democ­ra­cies and Euro Atlantic inte­gra­tions in the West­ern Balka­ns by empow­er­ing civ­il soci­ety orga­ni­za­tions and CSO net­works for stronger and active role in cre­at­ing peace­ful and inclu­sive soci­eties for sus­tain­able devel­op­ment in Alba­nia, Bosnia and Herze­gov­ina, Koso­vo, Mon­tene­gro, North Mace­do­nia, and Ser­bia, is financed by the Nor­we­gian Min­istry of For­eign Affairs and is run by Cen­ter for Civ­il Soci­ety Pro­mo­tion (Cen­tar za pro­mo­ci­ju civilnog društ­va — CPCD), togeth­er with part­ner orga­ni­za­tions from Alba­nia – Insti­tute for Democ­ra­cy and Medi­a­tion (IDM) and North Mace­do­nia – Cen­ter for Research and Pol­i­cy Mak­ing (CRPM).

The project “Dis­abil­i­ty Alliances for the Devel­op­ment of Inclu­sive Reforms in the Region”. (DADIRR), which is imple­ment­ed with­in the SMART Balka­ns region­al pro­gram, aims to achieve the fol­low­ing objectives:

Over­all goal (impact) To con­tribute to good gov­er­nance, par­tic­i­pa­to­ry democ­ra­cies and inclu­sive soci­eties towards Euro-Atlantic inte­gra­tion of Balka­ns coun­tries by strength­en­ing the dis­abil­i­ty orga­ni­za­tions region­al coop­er­a­tion and their par­tic­i­pa­tion in deci­sion and pol­i­cy mak­ing processes..

Spe­cif­ic goal: Strength­en a region­al net­work of CSOs and pub­lic author­i­ties in 3 WB Coun­tries, to advance issues of acces­si­bil­i­ty and par­tic­i­pa­tion of PwD in polit­i­cal and pub­lic life, to ensure the har­mo­niza­tion and imple­men­ta­tion of nation­al legal and pol­i­cy frame­work to com­ply with the CRPD, the EU Strat­e­gy for the Rights of PwD 2021–2030.

Spe­cial Objec­tives: 

1. Pro­mote the inte­gra­tion of self-reg­u­la­tion mech­a­nisms by prepa­ra­tion of the reports on com­pli­ance and har­mo­niza­tion of leg­is­la­tion in the area of acces­si­bil­i­ty and par­tic­i­pa­tion of PwD in polit­i­cal and pub­lic life;;
2. Encour­age coop­er­a­tion and part­ner­ship among nation­al and region­al APWD and gov­ern­ments to pre­pare rec­om­men­da­tions for har­mo­niza­tion of the leg­is­la­tion in the area of acces­si­bil­i­ty and par­tic­i­pa­tion in polit­i­cal and pub­lic life, in line with UNCRPD;
3. Pro­mote pol­i­cy advo­ca­cy, gov­ern­ment over­sight, account­abil­i­ty and trans­paren­cy by estab­lish­ing and/or strength­en­ing Par­lia­men­tary Dis­abil­i­ty Lob­bing Groups PDL­Gs in 3 WB project tar­get­ed countries;

ADRF and project part­ners from 3 WB coun­tries, will com­bine their oper­a­tional capac­i­ties in a com­mon effort to assist orga­ni­za­tions ded­i­cat­ed to the ful­fill­ment of rights of PwD in 3 WB coun­tries to devel­op work­ing rela­tion­ships, net­work­ing capac­i­ties and through their leg­isla­tive assess­ment and pol­i­cy advo­ca­cy in the area of acces­si­bil­i­ty and polit­i­cal and pub­lic par­tic­i­pa­tion, empow­er them to engage con­struc­tive­ly with gov­ern­ments to address key chal­lenges faced by PwD. By estab­lish­ing region­al coop­er­a­tion and exchange amongst Leg­isla­tive Work­ing Groups (WGs) and Par­lia­men­tary Lob­by­ing Groups (PLGs), the APWDs will enhance their par­tic­i­pa­tion in deci­sion mak­ing process­es, under­take effec­tive pol­i­cy and leg­isla­tive advo­ca­cy and engage with, but also hold account­able their nation­al gov­ern­ments to make polit­i­cal and eco­nom­ic reforms relat­ed to dis­abil­i­ty, prepar­ing them for the rights and oblig­a­tions that came with Euro­pean Reform Agen­da and EU membership.

Project Coor­di­na­tor 

Alban­ian Dis­abil­i­ty Rights Foundation

Web­site: www.adrf.al

Part­nerët e Projektit

Alban­ian Nation­al Asso­ci­a­tion of Deaf

Web­site: www.anad.al;

HANDIKOS Koso­vo

Web­site: www.handi-kos.org;

Polio Plus – move­ment against disability

Web­site: www.polioplus.org.mk;