Our Impact.
Universalia DRF/DRAF Utilization-Focused and Feminist Principles Evaluation, 2023
In 2023, Universalia Management Group conducted an external evaluation using participatory, utilization-focused and feminist evaluation principles to examine the potential impact of DRF’s technical assistance and DRF’s contributions towards the diversification of disability movements, particularly around gender. The evaluation also aimed to identify DRF’s specific contributions to a sample of key advocacy achievements in advancing the rights of persons with disabilities. The effort also provided a baseline for ‘Holding Rights, Leading for Rights,’ a project funded by the United States Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Rights & Labor.
This evaluation identified enabling and hindering factors for successful OPD advocacy. These factors, ranging from the disability movement’s capacity, governments’ capacity, and prevailing cultural beliefs and social norms, are not within the control of any one actor. Instead, it is clear that lasting change for persons with disabilities requires change efforts on multiple fronts.
To read the evaluation highlights in a story of change, grounded in rigorous quantitative and qualitative data collection methods, explore these Spotlights below:
Learnings from Evaluation
Grantees reported the value of DRF’s technical assistance contributions, both at the individual and organizational levels. Grantees, including those representing persons with disabilities marginalized within the disability movement, gained confidence to fight for their rights, network with other actors, and participate in international forums and events. Their movement building would lead to successful advocacy efforts, from passing disability rights acts to creating inclusive COVID-19 responses. In these three countries, they shared how they became partners of national and local government officials and other key players in the development of disability-inclusive development agendas. The evaluation also found that advocacy achievements became a platform and a positive precedent for future inclusive initiatives and policies.