Tools & Resources
Filter by
Type
Publication date
Language
Type
Publication date
Language
News & Updates
Interview/Speech/Testimony
Nay Lin Soe Remarks: 2016 Charles T. Manatt Democracy Awards Ceremony
Nay Lin Soe, a disability rights advocate and Founder and CEO of the Myanmar Independent Living Initiative, received the 2016 Charles T. Manatt Democracy Award for his work advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities in Myanmar and Southeast Asia. Read his remarks accepting the Democracy Award.
News & Updates
Feature
Egypt’s National Council for Disability Affairs and IFES Host International Conference on Electoral Accessibility
The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and Egypt’s National Council for Disability Affairs hosted a conference in Cairo on April 12 and 13, 2016 on electoral access for persons with disabilities, with over 180 participants in attendance.
News & Updates
Feature
Post-Election Advocacy Advances Disability Inclusion in Myanmar
During Myanmar’s historic general elections in November 2015, the Myanmar Independent Living Initiative (MILI), a disability rights organization based in Yangon, worked to ensure that the elections were the country’s most accessible and inclusive elections to date for persons with disabilities.
News & Updates
Press Release
IFES Announces International Recipient of 2016 Democracy Awards
IFES will honor Nay Lin Soe, a disability rights advocate and founder and CEO of the Myanmar Independent Living Initiative, with its 2016 Charles T. Manatt Democracy Award. This is the first time that IFES has honored both a disability rights advocate and an Asian citizen with the Democracy Award.
News & Updates
Feature
Roundtable held in Cairo on New Disability and Elections BRIDGE Module
The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) organized a roundtable in Cairo, Egypt as part of the development of the Building Resources in Democracy, Governance, and Elections (BRIDGE) training program. The new disability rights module is being developed along with IFES teams in Haiti and Indonesia. The session focused on identifying key issues regarding inclusion of people with disabilities in the electoral process. Participants from various disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs) in Egypt discussed ideas with IFES staff and curriculum developers.
News & Updates
Feature
Myanmar’s Election Commission Takes Steps to Achieve Gender Equality and Include Voters with Disabilities
After five decades of military rule, Myanmar has initiated an ongoing process of democratic reform, opening new and significant political space. However, persons with disabilities in Myanmar still face numerous obstacles in accessing their right to vote, and, at only 6.8 percent, Myanmar has one of the lowest percentages of women in parliament in the region.
News & Updates
Feature
Celebrating International Day of Persons with Disabilities
The annual International Day of Persons with Disabilities, held on December 3, commemorates the human rights of persons with disabilities. The theme for this year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities is “Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality.” In 2018, IFES partnered with disabled people’s organizations in every region of the world to develop new tools and approaches to empower people with disabilities to participate in political life.
News & Updates
Feature
Empowering Persons with Intellectual Disabilities to Become Leaders in Myanmar
Last month, IFES and Future Stars, a self-advocacy organization, trained four new trainers with intellectual disabilities on how to build self-confidence to effectively and meaningfully participate in political life.
News & Updates
Feature
IFES Holds Its First Voter Education Film Festival
IFES held a Voter Education Film Festival to share best practices, gather examples from around the world and create a video repository for IFES teams to use and refer back to.
News & Updates
Feature
Nay Lin Soe and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Myanmar
Myanmar’s 2015 election was a historic moment for democracy in the Southeast Asian nation. Ahead of the elections, Nay Lin Soe’s collaboration with Myanmar’s Union Election Commission, government, civil society and media was critical to ushering in a new and inclusive era for Myanmar and serves as an exemplary model of how to advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities in nascent democracies.