Disability Rights International

05/13/2026

Are you helping people with disabilities or advancing human rights? We need you! Lend your voice to strengthen disability advocacy by taking our short survey.

We've launched a global survey to collect information about institutions for children and adults with disabilities. This survey will help us develop effective training programs and share our skills in monitoring institutions.

Take the survey here: https://forms.gle/3x9HY87BbePxTu7H6
Available in multiple languages.

Just 1 week left to make your voice heard!
Complete the survey by May 20th and share through your networks.
The preliminary results of the survey will be presented at the upcoming Conference of State Parties to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Thank you to the Global Coalition on Deinstitutionalization (GC-DI) for help translating and disseminating the survey.

International Disability Alliance Validity Foundation INCLUSION INTERNATIONAL TCI European Network on Independent Living - ENIL Centre for Human Rights

05/13/2026

📢 YOUR VOICE MATTERS:

Help strengthen disability advocacy

Dear DRI supporters, disability advocates, friends:

We are writing to ask your help on a project to strengthen disability advocacy around the world – especially for children and adults detained in orphanages, psychiatric hospitals or other institutions.

There is no substitute for getting inside closed facilities to meet people face-to-face and hear their stories. By documenting conditions, we expose abuses and hold governments accountable. We are striving for the day when no one is segregated from society because of a disability.

If you or your organization are engaged in helping people with disabilities or advancing human rights in any way, we encourage you to fill out this survey (available in multiple languages, adding more soon).

We encourage persons with disabilities and their representative organizations to complete the survey, regardless of their previous experience.

We are also grateful to the Global Coalition on Deinstitutionalization (GC-DI) for help with translating and disseminating the survey.

International Disability Alliance Validity Foundation European Network on Independent Living - ENIL TCI INCLUSION INTERNATIONAL Centre for Human Rights

05/12/2026

✨Join Our Upcoming Webinar on Challenging Institutionalization through International Human Rights Mechanisms✨

Validity Foundation is proud to join the Global Coalition on Deinstitutionalization (GC-DI) for an important online discussion on how international complaints mechanisms under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) can be used to challenge institutionalisation and promote community inclusion.

📅 Date: 28 May 2026, Thursday
🕒 Time: 3:00–5:00 PM (CET)

We are honored to participate alongside partners including International Disability Alliance, INCLUSION INTERNATIONAL, European Network on Independent Living - ENIL, TCI, Centre for Human Rights and Disability Rights International.

🔗 Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_31ofw6ykS6ekTTcUJ9-nHg #/registration

More information will be provided shortly!

04/30/2026

04/06/2026

Join us this Thursday, April 9th, for an important presentation -

This historic United Nations (UN) report is based on a petition and years of human rights investigations by Disability Rights International (DRI) into abuses against people with disabilities in Mexico.

We'll reflect on the findings by the UN, their implications, and promote actions aimed at ensuring compliance with and strengthening the rights of persons with disabilities.

WEBINAR:
Presentation Inquiry Report and recommendations on Mexico issued by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
📅 April/ Abril 9th, 2026
🕰 9 AM CST (MX) / 11 AM ET / 5 PM CET
💻 Register/Registro: tinyurl.com/webinarDRI2026
👥 SPA-ENG and ISL interpretation/ Interpretación ESP/ING y LS

Organized by Disability Rights International and the Global Coalition on Deinstitutionalization

04/01/2026

📣 Disability Rights International and the Global Coalition on Deinstitutionalization invites you to the Presentation Inquiry Report and recommendations on Mexico issued by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

ESPAÑOL

📣 Disability Rights International y la Coalición Global para la Desinstitucionalización te invitan a la Presentación Informe de investigación y recomendaciones sobre México elaborados por el Comité sobre los Derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad de Naciones Unidas.

📅 April/ Abril 9th, 2026
🕰 9 AM CST (MX) / 11 AM ET / 5 PM CET
💻 Register/Registro: tinyurl.com/webinarDRI2026
👥 SPA-ENG and ISL interpretation/ Interpretación ESP/ING y LSI

03/27/2026

“The United Nations affirmed what Disability Rights International (DRI) has documented over decades: violence and abuse against people with disabilities on a massive scale throughout Mexico. In the name of “care” people are being hurt rather than helped. The United Nations calls on the government of Mexico to replace institutions with humane care in the community." – Lisbet Brizuela, Director, DRI Mexico

WATCH NOW: DRI's documented abuses and recommendations for reform.

Learn More: https://www.driadvocacy.org/news/dri-petition-leads-un-condemnation-mexico-institutions

Eric Rosenthal

03/25/2026

03/25/2026

📣 BREAKING NEWS: The United Nations (UN) released a historic report based on a Disability Rights International petition and years of​ our​ human rights investigations into​ abuses against people with disabilities in Mexico.

An official UN Inquiry found “grave and systemic” abuses against children and adults with disabilities in Mexico, segregated from society and subject to violence and abuse.

The UN Report finds that Mexico must take immediate action to meet its obligations under international law to protect people with disabilities.

WATCH NOW: See DRI's video showing atrocious abuses and recommendations for reform - https://tinyurl.com/DRI-UNinquiry

02/26/2026

Disability Rights International convened a forum with the Mexican Senate to highlight community-based housing models for people with disabilities.

At “Mental Health Starts with Housing,” international reformers and DRI volunteer experts — Dr. Sam Tsemberis, founder of Pathways to Housing in New York City, and Dr. Mauricio Gómez Chamorro, a psychiatrist leading community housing initiatives in Chile — shared proven Housing First and community-based models that help people leave institutions and live in the community.

Powerful moments also came from people with lived experience. Rosalinda Rodríguez of El Caracol A.C. put it bluntly: “If I'm going to die in a shelter, I would rather die on the street. At least people look out for each other there. In a shelter, no one would support or defend me.”

The message was clear: institutionalization violates human rights, and deinstitutionalization is possible when real housing alternatives exist in the community.

06/19/2025

📢 Sweeping legal victory before Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

The Inter-American Commission just announced a decision against Guatemala in the case of Federico Mora Patients v. Guatemala that sets legal precedent to protect people with disabilities in Guatemala and throughout the Americas. The case was brought by Disability Rights International (DRI) and the Guatemalan Colectivo Vida Independiente, joined by the Center for Health and Human Rights, O’Neill Institute of Georgetown University Law Center.

“This decision represents the outcome of a long struggle by disability rights activists in Guatemala with help from DRI,” said Silvia Quan, Director of the Colectivo, “It gives us hope that finally our rights are being enforced through international law.”

The decision orders reparations for thousands of children and adults with disabilities wrongly detained in Guatemala.

The Inter-American Commission demands protections against violence and abuse, and support for community inclusion.

🔗 Read the decision and learn more: https://www.driadvocacy.org/news/sweeping-legal-victory-inter-american-commission-human-rights

Vida Independiente