Report on comprehensive assessment of UN Zimbabwe’s level of disability inclusion set for validation
The UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa (ROSA) in collaboration with the United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) Project team, and the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office will on 4 August 2021 hold an online validation meeting of the United Nations Disability Inclusion Framework (UNDIS) Comprehensive Assessment report for UN Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe Albino Association (ZIMAS) and its technical partner Christian Blind Mission (CBM) led the assessment exercise. The UN Baseline Assessment was conducted from April-June 2021 to support the UN Zimbabwe’s Action Plan to implement the United Nations Disability Inclusion Framework (UNDIS).
The main objective of this meeting is to share and validate the final findings of the United Nations Disability Inclusion Comprehensive Baseline Assessment with UN Staff and civil society stakeholders. The UNDIS baseline assessment was conducted within the framework on the Zimbabwe UNPRPD Round 3 project extension phase and sought to establish the level of disability inclusion amongst UN agencies.
The United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS) was introduced in June 2019 in a bid to make the UN system more disability inclusive in a systematic manner. The strategy has an accountability scorecard with 14 performance indicators against which all UN entities will report annually. The indicators are categorised into the following four pillars: leadership, strategic planning and management; inclusiveness; programming; and organizational culture.
Preliminary findings of the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy Comprehensive Baseline Assessment of the UN in Zimbabwe revealed that tremendous efforts have been made in implementing the UNDIS and promoting disability–inclusion within the Zimbabwe United Nations Country Team (UNCT). The report acknowledges that while significant strides have been made by the UN towards disability-inclusion approaching or meeting the UNDIS indicators; there is still need to further strengthen disability-inclusion.
The validation meeting will target all UN Agency staff and will cover disability inclusion in various UNDIS indicators such as in leadership, procurement, human resources, communication, monitoring and evaluation.