The conference is about developing responses for realising the human right of persons with disabilities to live in the community in the African region. The focus is two-fold: 1) critically appraising laws, policies, practices, programmes, polities and ideologies that serve to impede the human right of persons with disabilities to live in the community with choices and appropriate support on an equal basis with others; and 2) suggesting reforms to overcome the impediments. The conference will be held at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa, on 11 and 12 November 2019.
Authors of abstracts and papers should seek to propose ideas and remedial approaches which can serve as resources for assisting lawmakers, courts and tribunals, policymakers, caregivers, residential and other community support service providers, education providers, health-care providers, employers, and other pertinent actors in fulfilling the right of all persons with disabilities to live in the community. It is anticipated that papers presented at this conference will be reworked by authors and submitted for consideration for publication in the 2020 volume of the African Disability Rights Yearbook.
7th Annual Disability Rights Conference
‘Fulfilling the right of persons with disabilities to live in fulfilling the right of persons with disabilities to live in the community: Promoting choice, inclusion and participation’
11 – 12 November 2019
The conference will serve as a forum for scholarly interactions and exchange of ideas on proffering recommendations to address impediments to the right to live in the community. It seeks to bring together scholars, practitioners, care and service providers and researchers from the African region and beyond working on various aspects of the right to live in the community. Interested participants are invited to submit abstracts on topics of their choice.
Possible topics to consider
The following are mere suggestions rather than an exhaustive list of issues that authors may consider using as a focal area or areas, bearing in mind that the narrower the focus the greater are the prospects of writing a successful abstract:
- conceptualising the right to live in the community
- children with disabilities and the right to live in the community
- youth with disabilities and the right to live in the community
- adults with disabilities and the right to live in the community
- persons with intellectual disabilities and the right to live in the community
- persons with psychosocial disabilities and the right to live in the community
- domestic policy-making and legislation for the right to live in the community
- domestic law and the right to live the community
- the intersections between the right to live in the community and other human rights, e.g., right to: adequate standard of living and social protection; accessibility; education; employment; health; family; education; legal capacity; liberty of movement; mobility; and habilitation and rehabilitation
- place of global and regional jurisprudence in interpretation and application of domestic laws
- place of regional jurisprudence in interpretation and application of the right to live in the community
- place of comparative law in interpretation and application of domestic laws
- constitutionalising the right to live in the community
- place of courts and tribunals in promoting the right to living in the community
- place of civil society in promoting the right to living in the community
- place of NGOs in promoting the right to living in the community
- place of the family and other caregivers in promoting the right to living in the community.
Deadline (Abstracts): 30 August 2019
Authors will be notified by 9 September 2019 whether their abstract has been accepted.
Deadline (Papers):28 October 2019
Authors whose abstracts are accepted will be required to submit their full papers by 28 October 2019.
Abstracts and queries must be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tel: +27 12 420 5408
Fax: +27 (0) 86 580 5743
jehoshaphat.njau@up.ac.za