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The Global Partnership on Children with Disabilities (GPcwd) is a network of more than 100 organizations, including international NGOs, national/local NGOs, Disabled People’s Organizations (DPOs), governments, academia and the private sector, working to advance the rights of children with disabilities at the global, regional and country levels. With a rights-based approach, the Partnership provides a platform for advocacy and collective action to ensure the rights of children with disabilities are included and prioritized by both the Disability and Child Rights Movement.
An initial call for Partners was made in 2011, followed by a small consultation held in conjunction with the UNESCAP and Leonard Cheshire Disability Conference on Disability-Inclusive MDG’s and Aid-Effectiveness Conference in March 2012. The Partners agreed on organizing a major event around the 5th Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
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The inaugural Forum of the Partnership (more than 240 participants) was held from 14-15 September 2012 at UNICEF House in New York, where for the first time the Partners came together to discuss ways to advocate for an inclusive post-2015 agenda; establish four task forces with the aim to influence the mainstreaming of disability rights into global child-focused agendas namely in nutrition, education, humanitarian action and assistive technology; and discuss collaboration at the country level in Haiti, Rwanda, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Malawi, Mozambique, and Bangladesh.
Coordination of the Global Partnership is currently being led by UNICEF and each task force is coordinated by one of the Partner organizations. An initial workplan from September 2012 - August 2013 has been created with the aim to report back to the group at a follow up meeting in New York during the 6th Conference of States Parties to the CRPD. The outcomes of the second meeting will influence the GPcwd contributions to the High Level Meeting on Disability being held 23 September 2013 in New York. 2013 Forum of the Global Partnership on Children with Disabilities will take place the next day, 24 September 2013.
