The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is valued as one of the most revolutionary human rights legal instruments. The CRPD follows decades of work by the United Nations to change attitudes and approaches towards persons with disabilities, from viewing persons with disabilities as “objects” towards viewing persons with disabilities as “subjects” with rights. The development of the CRPD involved close consultation and active participation of persons with disabilities and their allies, which resulted in an advanced and innovative human rights treaty.  Article 12 in the CRPD focussed on legal capacity and challenged the very idea of what it means to be a person: to have rights and to be able to exercise those rights. However, doctrine remains uncertain about the real consequences of the implementation of Article 12 in the CRPD. Most of these discussions have been conducted by Global North scholars on their practices and policies. Policies and practices from the Global South are rarely included in these discussions. However, countries in the Global South have started Reforms (radical legislative changes) on the matter: comprehensive reforms (on several aspects of life) or specific reforms (on certain issues, like mental health). It is necessary to take into account their experiences and discussions in order to implement correctly Article 12 CRPD, having in mind their socio-economic context and the realities of their legal systems.

Assistive technologies encompass a wide spectrum of devices and services that act as an interface between the person and environment. The use of assistive technologies in the workplace has been identified as a beneficial strategy to enable people with disabilities to obtain and maintain employment. However, the current information has been defined in general terms and how to choose one accommodation over another is not very well understood in the literature. The specific technologies and accessible solutions that have successfully been used in the workplace by people with disabilities are also not well documented. It is important to know what assistive technologies are being used in the workplace, what benefits and challenges it poses and for whom to understand what can be done to assist people with disabilities to obtain and maintain employment.

Disability inclusion entails integrating individuals with disabilities into day-to-day activities and promoting equal opportunities to those without disabilities. To this end, several disability inclusive programs have been implemented with the aim of giving people with and without disabilities equal opportunities to participate in all facets of life to the best of their abilities and aspirations. This brief summarises current evidence about how to effectively scale up disability-inclusive programs.

Due to negative societal attitudes and ableist norms, young people with disabilities may be at risk of low self-esteem. Low self-esteem, aside from being unpleasant to experience, is associated with social isolation, low mood, and poor educational outcomes. Building positive self-esteem is critical for young people to reach their full developmental potential, and so identifying interventions that work to improve self-esteem among young people with disabilities is important. However, information on programmes that work to improve self-esteem, especially in low-and-middle income counties (LMICs), is lacking. There is a need for programming to improve self-esteem and build confidence which takes into account disability as well as personal and environmental factors of young people.

Images and stories in the media have the potential to influence society’s attitudes, norms and behaviours towards people with disabilities. Even events such as parasports and the Paralympics provide an opportunity to challenge society’s expected norms and perceptions regarding the capabilities of people with disabilities. Although there has been some improvement in the media portrayal of people with disabilities, these portrayals remain scarce and entrenched in stereotypes, social stigma and misrepresentations. People with disabilities receive far less coverage in all types of media and when they do receive coverage, it often reinforces negative stereotypes or doesn’t show the diversity of people with disabilities. This evidence brief aims to look at the core challenges faced with regards to media portrayals of people with disabilities focusing on coverage, representation, diversity in both sport and entertainment media.