IDPP Executive Director Dr. Derrick Cogburn has been invited by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Social Policy and Development to join both the UN Working Group on Disability and Digital Societies, as well as the UN Global Network on Monitoring and Evaluation for Disability-Inclusive Development (MEDD).
Dr. Cogburn is participating in both groups’ meetings at UN headquarters in New York City from 1-4 May 2016, where he will present to MEDD on IDPP and his research at the intersection of disability-inclusive development and big data analytics.
The Working Group on Disability and Digital Societies was created in collaboration between the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Data-Pop Alliance. This group explores how the digital society can contribute to (i) better monitoring and evaluation of disability inclusive development and (ii) the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for persons with disabilities. The group is expected to produce a paper on disability and big data, which will be presented at a side event on disability and big data in June 2016 during the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The MEDD is a network organized by UN DESA, Division for Social Policy and Development, and the Secretariat for the CRPD to take stock of progress made in disability-inclusive monitoring and evaluation for disability-inclusive development, particularly in the context of the 2030 Agenda. In addition, MEDD aims to contribute to preparation of a 2018 UN flagship report on disability and development.
The MEDD Network consists of experts, researchers and practitioners from the UN system, academic institutions, member states, non-governmental organizations, particularly disabled persons’ organizations, and development partners with experience and expertise in the areas of monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the international development goals, including expertise in policy-analysis, data, statistics, monitoring and evaluation relevant for disability-inclusive development.