Aussie elected to International Disability Alliance board

Sydney-sider Mr Colin Allen, currently World Federation of the Deaf President, was elected to the position of Second Vice-Chair of the International Disability Alliance (IDA) Board in July this year, and will be part of the organisation’s work in promoting human rights internationally.

“We are proud to congratulate Mr Allen on this appointment,” said Deaf Australia President Ann Darwin, “He does excellent work in promoting Deaf rights with WFD and it is great to see an Australian Deaf person in another pivotal role on the world stage.”
The IDA, established in 1999, is a network of global and regional disabled people’s organisations (DPOs). It aims to promote the human rights of persons with disabilities as a united organisation of persons with disabilities utilising the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and other human rights instruments. The IDA participates as representatives of representative organisations of persons with disabilities at the national, regional and international levels.
The IDA, along with member organisations around the world, provides a voice to people living with a disability. There are many Disabled People’s Organisations worldwide, and although they represent over one billion people, they are the most frequently overlooked minority group.
The United Nations system both in New York and Geneva acknowledges the IDA’s unique composition as a network of the foremost international disability rights organisations and as the most authoritative representative voice of persons with disabilities.