The International Disability Alliance (IDA) was established in 1999 as a network of global and, since 2007, regional organisations of persons with disabilities (DPOs) and their families. The aim of the Alliance is to promote the effective and full implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) worldwide, as well as compliance with the CRPD within the UN system, through the active and coordinated involvement of representative organisations of persons with disabilities at the national, regional and international levels.
With member organisations around the world, IDA represents the estimated one billion people worldwide living with a disability. This is the world’s largest – and most frequently overlooked – minority group. IDA, with its unique composition as a network of the foremost international disability rights organisations, is the most authoritative representative voice of persons with disabilities and acknowledged as such by the United Nations system both in New York and Geneva.
IDA was instrumental in establishing the International Disability Caucus (IDC), the network of global, regional and national organisations of persons with disabilities and allied non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which was to become a key player in the negotiation of the CRPD.
IDA is now a major international player in the support of the CRPD, both on the international level and the regional/national level. Among other activities, the Alliance is the key focal point for the disability rights movement in developing an ongoing relationship between the UN organs and civil society, including DESA, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Conference of States Parties to the CRPD, special procedures, and most recently, the CRPD Committee. IDA is also committed to building the capacity of national DPOs with special attention to the Global South, in order to support the national efforts toward ratification, implementation and monitoring of the CRPD.