IFES has launched a new publication describing concrete steps that can enable voters with disabilities to more easily participate in elections. The launch took place in Managua, Nicaragua, on March 5. Based on a successful program to improve access to polling places and mobilize Nicaraguans with disabilities to vote, the book details activities and lessons learned that citizens or election officials anywhere can use to encourage people with disabilities to vote. People with disabilities make up some 10 percent of the population of developing nations. Yet they remain largely invisible to the policy-makers who design and implement government programs. The steps described in this new book can reverse this situation by enabling citizens with disabilities to express themselves at the polls. The launch was attended by the media, disabled rights’ organizations, and members of government and the diplomatic community, including U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua Paul Trivelli, Swedish Ambassador to Nicaragua Eva Zetterberg and members of the Supreme Electoral Council such as Magistrate José Luis Villavicencio and Director of Electoral Affairs Adonai Jiménez. The first-of its-kind project in Nicaragua was funded by USAID and SIDA.

For Nicaraguan coverage of this event, see Eduardo Marenco, “Cuando votar es un desafío,” El Nuevo Diario (March 8, 2007).