HISTORY
The ASEAN Disability Forum (ADF) is a regional network of Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) across Southeast Asia. Established as a platform for coordination, advocacy, and collaboration, ADF works to ensure that disability rights and perspectives are fully mainstreamed into ASEAN policies and community-building processes.
ADF emerged from the collective realization among Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) that stronger regional coordination and advocacy were essential to influence ASEAN’s structures and policy frameworks. Actively engaging in the ASEAN People Forum (APF) and collaborating with other ASEAN civil society organizations, disability advocates successfully secured a permanent session on the rights of persons with disabilities within the Forum. These advocacy efforts ensured that disability rights were consistently reflected in the every final statements submitted to the ASEAN Summit.
ADF FIRST CONFERENCE
ADF’s early advocacy milestones include a landmark meeting in Jakarta in 2010, which produced key recommendations submitted to the ASEAN Secretariat. These efforts significantly contributed to the adoption of the Bali Declaration on Enhancing the Role and Participation of Persons with Disabilities in the ASEAN Community at the 19th ASEAN Summit in 2011. The Declaration recognized the importance of establishing ASEAN Disability Forum (ADF) as a multi-stakeholder platform involving ASEAN Member States, the ASEAN Secretariat, International Development Agencies, Civil Society Organization (CSO), Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), media, the private sector, academia, disability-related organizations, and families.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF ADF IN ASEAN DECLARATION
The ASEAN Disability Forum was officially inaugurated on 18–19 September 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand. During this historic gathering, ADF adopted the Bangkok Declaration, providing strategic input to promote disability-inclusive policies within the ASEAN Strategic Framework of Social Welfare and Development (2011–2015) and contributing to the ASEAN Decade of Persons with Disabilities (2011–2020).
Today, ADF serves as a regional voice of the disability movement in ASEAN. It connects grassroots organizations with policymakers, facilitates information exchange, and fosters collaboration among governments, service providers, civil society, and the public. ADF works across sectors to shift the paradigm from a medical approach to a social and human rights–based approach to disability.
OBJECTIVES
Mainstream disability issues across all ASEAN policies and contribute to building a disability-inclusive ASEAN Community.
Promote awareness and monitor the implementation of ASEAN Declarations, the Bali Declaration, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), and other relevant instruments.
Monitor the implementation of the ASEAN Enabling Masterplan on Mainstreaming the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Strengthen OPDs and relevant stakeholders through capacity building, advocacy coordination, and mutual support to unify the regional disability voice.
Through collective action and sustained advocacy, ADF continues to champion the full participation, inclusion, and rights of persons with disabilities across the ASEAN region.
