Disability equality training forms part of the Disability KaR programe and is managed by the Overseas Development Group, at the University of East Anglia, UK.

The first two week advanced course on "Mainstreaming Disability in Development" took place in May 2005. The Disability KaR Programme offered a number of scholarships to disabled people, professionals and researchers who are working in the disability and development field.

Participants of the first ODG disability equality training course, May 2005

The course explored different aspects of mainstreaming disability, including:

• What is mainstreaming
• Why mainstreaming is important
• How to mainstream disability

The course focused on the concepts of disability and equality, including key terms such as human rights, development and mainstreaming, as well as exploring policy development, and examining practical tools and guidelines.

Mainstreaming was explored at four levels, as outlined in Isobel Ortiz's Disability KaR paper, Assessing Connections to DFID's poverty agenda (see the research section for more information):

• Country programming - including DFID country assistance plans and national PRSPs
• Development interventions - including a variety of current aid instruments
• Institutional level - within organisations
• Knowledge inititatives - for example looking at disability and research.

Using participatory methods and sharing case-studies and presentations the course aimed to develop practical ways of including and involving disabled people in the development process. Participants devised an action plan to take back to their organisations to facilitate the mainstreaming process.

Strategies for 'how to mainstream' examined:

• The role of champions and allies - how to mainstream with a human rights based approach.
• Involving disabled people and DPOs - how can this be done in different fields
• Political commitment - is politicial commitment needed to mainstream in disability, what does this mean and what is the role of local DPOs?
• Policies and laws - what is the experience of countries (both developed and developing), which laws have worked and can they be applied in different countries?
• Financing - what are the implications of not financing disability mainstreaming?
• Evaluation - how can this be done effectively?

Participants came from many different backgrounds, including executive directors of Disabled People's Organisations and NGOs, from Bangladesh, Bolivia, Cambodia, Fiji, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, the Netherlands and Uganda. The course was directed by Mark Harrison, and was facilitated by Bill Albert and Stephanie Ash, both disability activists and trainers.

For more details contact Overseas Development Group at: odg.train@uea.ac.uk