Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs)

OPDs represent the interests of their members with disabilities and have the mandate to advocate for the realisation of their human rights and lobby for the consideration of their interests. Often, the term Disabled Peoples’ Organisation (DPO) can also be found. It means the same, but the term OPD becomes increasingly common.

OPDs can exist on a local, national, regional, and international levels. Sometimes umbrella organisations represent the interests of several OPDs.

The size, structure, capacities, and resources of OPDs can differ considerably.

Some OPDs may be specialised to advocate for specific groups among persons with disabilities (e.g., women and girls with disabilities, children with disabilities, indigenous persons with disabilities etc.) or for specific impairment groups (persons with visual impairments, psycho- social impairments, hearing impairments, physical impairments etc.), others may focus on certain topics (e.g., education, health, political participation, gender, etc.).

Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPD) need to be distinguished from organisations for persons with disabilities, which can include (development) organisations that have a specific disability focus (like CBM).

More information can be found in the section 'Get connected'.