Disability Rights Advocates Group Expands Internationally
By Kay Schriner (kays@uark.edu)
Disability Rights Advocates, a California-based organization, is rapidly expanding its international disability rights work. DRA uses research, education, and "high impact" litigation to promote the right of people with disabilities to equality in education, health care, employment, and public accommodations.
Its Hungarian affiliate - DRA-H - provides training and networking to promote equality and access for disabled people throughout Hungary and Central Europe. DRA-H uses many strategies to achieve its objectives, including direct political action and the use of the legal system. A recent success was the passage of the Equal Opportunity Law, which is the first civil rights law for people with disabilities in Hungary. The law guarantees equality in employment, transportation, and public accommodations. Now, DRA-H is developing strategies for implementing the bill's provisions. Among these tools are model lawsuits to enforce the new equal rights standards.
DRA-H has already held five international disability advocacy conferences in Central Europe. The Shared World V conference in 2000 was the largest yet, with 150 people with disabilities from 10 different countries taking part. The next conference will be held in May 2002.
Another important DRA initiative was the establishment in 1997 of the Disability Holocaust Project, which was successful in convincing reparations programs to include people with disabilities. One result was that in 2001 the International Organization for Migration (IOM), based in Switzerland, conducted an international outreach program to identify eligible disabled individuals or their heirs.
DRA can be contacted on e-mail at general@dralegal.org, and their website is at www.dralegal.org. They can also be reached at449 15th St., Suite 303, Oakland, CA 94612, telephone 510.451.8644, TTD 510.451.8716, FAX 510.451.8511.
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