[serene music]
Text on screen:
Nothing Without Us. USAID Disability Policy.
On screen:
A title card, showing the front page of the USAID Disability Policy, displays inserts of diverse people with apparent and non-apparent disabilities. It shows three women wearing dark glasses and walking arm-in-arm. One holds a hand-made sign written in Portuguese and reading "Más Oportunidades, Menos Caridade." Now, a woman with long auburn hair, green eyes, and glasses speaks to us from an office with a large plant, an American flag and a USAID flag.
Text on screen:
Katherine Guernsey.
Disability Rights Coordinator.
Katherine Guernsey:
We are proud to launch USAID's Disability Policy. In 1997, USAID became one of the first development agencies to adopt a policy on disability inclusion. Now, the "Nothing Without Us" USAID Disability Policy places our work within the current global context. It's firmly grounded in the social and human rights framings of disability, and positions USAID to partner with persons with disabilities in meeting the challenges and opportunities of the 2Ist century.
On screen:
A photo montage shows diverse adults and children with apparent and non-apparent disabilities engaged in different activities:
- three men stand with a large hand-made action plan, written in Spanish. One man has an above-the-knee amputation;
- a smiling woman watches a little boy play with a board game;
- a woman who uses a wheelchair draws a schematic on a large white board;
- and a young man holds a rake, happily working in an outdoor garden.
A quote appears:
Text on screen:
"It is not a tragedy to me that I'm living in a wheelchair. Disability only becomes a tragedy when society fails to provide the things we need to lead our lives - job opportunities or barrier-free buildings, for example." - Judith Heumann, American Disability Rights Advocate.
On screen:
A photo shows Ms. Heumann, a smiling woman with dark hair, sitting in her wheelchair.
Katherine Guernsey:
In implementing this policy, USAID will uphold seven operating principles: accessibility, accountability, anti-ableism, do no more harm, gender equality, nondiscrimination, and nothing without us.
On screen:
Another photo montage shows diverse women and men, with apparent and non-apparent disabilities, in different parts of the world:
- in a conference room, a woman uses sign language with a colleague;
- a group of young adults attend an outdoor demonstration;
- a woman with limb differences and braided hair holds a handwoven rattan tray. She wears a colorful wooden necklace;
- two girls with braided hair (one with albinism) stand in the sun;
- an older man and woman walk on a dirt road with a hilly jungle in the distance. The man has a prosthetic leg:
- people sign a large petition at a town square in a in a Southeast Asian country;
- and a circle of smiling teammates clasp hands in camaraderie.
Text on screen:
Irisa Macaulay, Disability Rights Program Analyst.
On screen:
Ms. MacAulay, a woman with long dark-brown hair and brown eyes, uses sign language, as an unseen interpreter speaks:
Irisa MacAulay:
Disability inclusion through targeted programming should be the default way we work. Supporting persons with disabilities to benefit from our work on an equitable basis with others isn't just the right thing to do– it's fundamental to making development, humanitarian, and peacebuilding assistance both effective and cost-effective. And it's key to countries meeting their development goals and potential.
On screen:
A quote appears:
Text on screen:
"As an organization, and as a person with disabilities, we do not want tokenism. We want meaningful engagement as equal partners in the process." - Ganesh Singh, Guyana Council of Organizations for Persons with Disabilities, Program Manager.
On screen:
A photo shows Mr. Singh, a man with short hair and glasses. He wears a language translation headset.
Irisa Macaulay:
To learn more about the USAID Disability Policy, please visit…
On screen:
A web address appears:
Text on screen:
www.usaid.gov/inclusivedevelopment/disability-policy.
USAID From The American People.
Logo:
USAID. United States Agency International Development.
END