IDPP is excited to announce that our latest book project entitled Making Disability Rights Real in Southeast Asia: Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in ASEAN was published on 24 March 2017. A lecture and book launch hosted by the Institute for Human Rights at the University of Alabama-Birmingham will take place on Thursday, 30 March at Heritage Hall 104 at 6:00pm US Eastern Time with a virtual participation option.

Recording: Book Launch - Making Disability Rights Real in Southeast Asia

Co-edited by IDPP Executive Director and American University Associate Professor Dr. Derrick Cogburn and Dr. Tina Kempin Reuter, Director of the Institute for Human Rights and Associate Professor at the University of Alambama-Birmingham, this edited collection is the first of its kind focused on Southeast Asia.

Published by Lexington Books / Rowman & Littlefield, the edited collection evaluates national implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) across all 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. Working with interdisciplinary and country-specific research teams, the book presents case studies of CRPD implementation across Southeast Asia, including detailing the factors that influenced each country to ratify the CRPD; the focal point structure of implementation; the independent mechanism established to monitor implementation; and civil society organizations’ involvement.

The book also evaluates the implications of CRPD implementation for human rights and development in ASEAN, including the degree of institutionalized support for persons with disabilities; the development objectives of the CRPD against the strategic objectives of the ASEAN community; and the way these developments compare with those in other countries and regions.