ANNEX II. KEY TERMS‌

  • Ableism: discriminatory and stigmatizing social norms that devalue persons with disabilities relative to non- disabled persons117 and are rooted in beliefs that “typical” abilities are superior and that persons with disabilities need to be changed to fit a social ideal of what is “normal” or “typical,” rather than being respected as a natural part of human diversity.
  • Agency: 118 the ability of individuals to be self-motivated and self-directed in their actions, rather than being subject to the constraints, pressures, or influence of others.
  • Assistive technology (AT): an umbrella term covering the systems and services related to the delivery of assistive products and services—including wheelchairs, eyeglasses, hearing aids, prosthetics, communication products, and more—that enable people to live healthy, productive, independent, and dignified lives and to participate in education, the labor market, and civic life.
  • Disabled persons’ organizations/organizations of persons with disabilities (DPOs/OPDs): civil-society organizations run by and for persons with disabilities. Such representative organizations are distinguishable in their staffing and governance structures from organizations that may focus on disability but may not be majority controlled by persons with disabilities. Both types of organizations, as well as organizations of family members and allies of persons with disabilities, have important roles to play in supporting the full enjoyment of human rights by persons with disabilities on an equitable basis with others, but DPOs/OPDs occupy a unique role in representing the primacy of voice of persons with disabilities. USAID uses the dual “DPOs/OPDs” out of respect for those disability-led organizations that prefer identity-first language and those disability-led organizations that prefer person-first language.
  • Inclusion: The intentional process in which social, economic, political, and cultural similarities and differences are positive drivers to transforming relationships and structures so that all individuals, including marginalized or underrepresented groups, can contribute to their societies, communities, and workplaces.
  • Intersectionality: the complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, classism, ableism, ageism, and heterosexism) combine, overlap, or intersect, especially in the experiences of marginalized or underrepresented individuals or groups. An intersectional approach recognizes that many elements of a person’s identity can affect how they experience the world. In combination with systems of inequality, these intersecting identities can lead to varying degrees of power and privilege that, in turn, create unique power dynamics, effects, and perspectives affecting individuals’ place in society, experience of, and potentially access to development interventions. Further, an intersectional approach advances efforts to address the specific inequalities faced by women and girls, as they make up approximately half of the population in any given country.
  • Marginalized or underrepresented groups: groups that are disproportionately excluded from opportunities and systems (e.g., employment, political representation, education, basic services), often due to structural and societal obstacles and historical marginalization. Such groups may include, but are not limited to, women; youth; children in adversity and their families; older persons; persons with disabilities; LGBTQI+119 people; displaced ‌persons; migrants; Indigenous Peoples and communities; non-dominant religious, racial, and ethnic groups; people of castes traditionally considered lower; people of lower socioeconomic status; and people with unmet mental health needs.
  • Reasonable accommodations:120 necessary and appropriate modification and adjustments not imposing a disproportionate or undue burden, where needed in a particular case, to ensure to persons with disabilities the enjoyment or exercise on an equal basis with others of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
  • Universal design (UD): the design of products, environments, programs, and services to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design. UD does not exclude provision of assistive devices for particular groups of persons with disabilities where this is needed.

Footnotes

  1. Throughout this policy, the term “persons with disabilities” is used, consistent with internationally accepted terminology reflected in the CRPD and other instruments. The term “non-disabled persons” is used herein to refer to those individuals who have not, per the Social Model of disability (discussed in the “Background” section), been disabled by societal barriers including stigma and discrimination on the basis of disability. Back to text

  2. This definition applies to references in this policy to “agency” of individuals, and not those references to “Agency” that refer to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Back to text

  3. LGBTQI+: An acronym that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex. The “+” represents other sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions that do not fit within the “LGBTQI” identity labels. Back to text

  4. In light of the international context in which USAID undertakes its programming, this definition of reasonable accommodations is drawn from Article 2 of the CRPD, which is more familiar to the stakeholders with whom we work than comparable definitions from U.S. legislation. However, the use of this definition is not intended to preclude application of U.S. legislative definitions where controlling, e.g., in the context of providing reasonable accommodations to USAID employees with disabilities. Back to text

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