Disabled Peoples' International Founded in Winnipeg
Disabled Peoples' International (DPI) was founded in Winnipeg, Canada, in November 1981 — the first international cross-disability organisation controlled and led by disabled people themselves. Its founding represented a direct challenge to the established Rehabilitation International, which was dominated by non-disabled professionals.
The Break from Rehabilitation International
The founding of Disabled Peoples' International grew out of a rupture at the 1980 World Congress of Rehabilitation International (RI) in Winnipeg. Disabled delegates from multiple countries — led by Henry Enns of Canada and Bengt Lindqvist of Sweden — pushed for a requirement that RI's member organisations be majority-controlled by disabled people. When this was defeated, the disabled delegates walked out and immediately began organising an alternative.
The principle at stake was fundamental: an international organisation purporting to represent disabled people should be controlled by disabled people. RI was dominated by rehabilitation professionals and non-disabled service providers. The disabled delegates were not willing to continue under that structure.
Founding in 1981
One year later, in November 1981 — the United Nations International Year of Disabled Persons — DPI held its founding congress in Winnipeg, with representatives from 53 countries. It was constituted as a democratic organisation of disabled people's national assemblies, with governance explicitly in the hands of disabled people.
DPI's founding declaration stated: "We, the disabled persons of the world, declare our determination to take our rightful place in society and to assume our rightful role in the decisions affecting our lives. We reject the paternalism of charity and the assumption by others of the right to determine our needs and make decisions for us."
DPI's Work
DPI went on to:
- Advocate at the United Nations for disability rights, contributing to the World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled Persons (1982) and the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (1993)
- Play a significant role in the development of the UN CRPD
- Build capacity for disabled people's organisations globally
- Champion the social model of disability internationally
Legacy
DPI's founding was a statement that disabled people — from all countries, with all types of impairments — are capable of organizing, governing their own affairs, and representing themselves internationally. It planted the "Nothing About Us Without Us" principle at the heart of international disability advocacy and helped ensure that disabled people's voices shaped the international instruments that would follow.