Mobilizing District Committee Members

9. Meet with committee members individually

Seminars and other large events can be expensive and challenging to organize. Instead, DPOs can organize informal and inexpensive one-on-one meetings with each member of their district’s committee on the Persons with Disabilities Rights and Protection Act, 2013 (DRPA). Especially in districts where many ex officio members may be unaware of their role, informal private meetings are one of the best opportunities for DPOs to educate them about their responsibilities.

The experience of USAID’s EPD program shows that DRPA district committee members often first learn about the DRPA when they meet with DPO leaders. Often, they are eager to learn about their roles and responsibilities to implement the law. One-on-one meetings allow district committee members and their staff or aides to have open discussions about the issues that persons with disabilities face, to ask questions about the law of the DPO leaders, and to request DPOs’ assistance in fulfilling their duties under the law. Like professionals who attend seminars on the DRPA organized by DPOs, district committee members are often impressed by DPOs’ knowledge of the law when DPO representatives both are well-prepared for their meetings and also provide informational materials about the law.

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