Equality and Human Rights Commission

Why get involved in producing a shadow report?

Quite simply this is one of the most effective ways to use the Convention to help bring about positive change for disabled people.

Even when governments are being self-critical, their reports on the implementation of UN Conventions can sometimes paint a rosy picture about people’s rights – a picture that does not always reflect the reality on the ground.  This is why UN monitoring committees encourage voluntary groups to provide them with reports of their own.  They use this information to assess what progress is really being made and decide what the gaps and problems are and where further action is needed. The shadow reports also help them think about what questions to put to each government. Sometimes they adopt voluntary groups’ recommendations for change in their ‘Concluding Observations’.

Writing the report also helps the voluntary organisations to collect evidence and to identify what needs to be done to make the Convention rights a reality.

The UN Disability Committee will make recommendations (‘Concluding Observations’) to tell the government what steps they need to take to comply with the Convention. You can use these recommendations to press the government into action. Also, when the government submits its next report the UN Disability Committee will be expecting detailed information about action that has been taken. You can give your judgment in the shadow report.

Guide to writing a shadow report

The following is a brief guide to writing a shadow report. You can find full guidelines on the website of the International Disability Alliance (details in Part 4).

Use this guide if you are a group of disabled people feeding into another, bigger group’s shadow report, or a voluntary organisation representing disabled people that has consultative status with the UN.  You can also use it if you want to write an informal report based on the Convention to use in your campaigning work. Simply change ‘UN Disability Committee’ to, for example, ‘Scrutiny committee of the council’ or ‘NHS Board’. Instead of ‘government’, read ‘council’ or ‘police authority’, for example.

The UN Disability Committee says that it is very keen to receive reports from disabled people and their organisations. However, it’s a good idea to work together so that the UN Disability Committee doesn’t get an excessive number of reports to read – many other countries also have to report. Reports that represent the views and perspectives of lots of people may also be more likely to be read by the UN Disability Committee and have more impact.

You could write a report without having seen the government’s or write it as a response to the government report. Either is useful.

How to go about it

Step 1: Check the process, timetables and arrangements on the website of the UN Disability Committee (see Part 4). Note the UK report has to be sent in to the Committee by June 2011. If, for example, you are writing a local report for a scrutiny committee in your local council, then check when they meet and when you need to send in your report in time for them to discuss it at the meeting.

Step 2: Think about who you could work with to write the report. For example, whether you’re a big organisation or a small self-advocacy group, it would be a good idea to contact other groups and ask if they would like to work with you. 
 
Step 3: Work out what your report will cover and how you will structure it.

• Think about which rights in the Convention are most relevant and important to you and focus on those (use Part 2 of this guide to help).  Make sure you focus on those areas disabled people in your group feel are most important to them.
• Look at the key issues for disabled people and the extent to which people are currently able to enjoy their Convention rights. You must use real evidence. Evidence can be from surveys, research reports, official statistics, newspaper articles.  You could also include ‘case studies’ – real examples of how the problem affects disabled people.
• Make clear what the barriers are and how they relate to the rights in the Convention.
• If there are good things government or another public authority are doing in a particular area then say so.  If nothing has been done then also report this.
• Make specific recommendations for change. If you want action on disability hate crime, don’t just say that the government should do more to tackle disability hate crime. Think about specific action different bodies like the devolved administrations, Ministry of Justice, Crown Prosecution Service, the police, local councils or housing associations should take.
• Be clear which part of government should be making these changes. Say how you want to be involved in making the changes happen. 
• If there is some information or evidence that is too long to include in the main part of your report but you think will be useful for the UN Disability Committee to read then put it in an appendix at the end.

Step 4:  Now write your report! Follow clear print guidelines so that it is accessible to most people. Remember to use plain English and short sentences. Don’t use jargon or acronyms that Committee members won’t be familiar with. Remember that many Committee members don’t have English as their first language and are from other cultures, so they don’t necessarily know how British government works. Use numbered paragraphs. Keep it short.

Step 5: Get some people you trust to read through the report and give you some feedback so you can improve it. Think about whether there are groups which might want to support it and, if appropriate, get their permission to add their logo. Also arrange for the report to be made available in a range of accessible formats.

Step 6:  Publish the report and send it to the relevant parties.

Step 7: Follow up. If you are sending your report to a local committee try to get involved in the meeting. If you want to sit in on the committee meeting you will need to check with the committee secretariat if that is possible. It is really useful to meet members of the committee in advance so, if possible, ask to meet them for a brief discussion beforehand.

Publicity: Don’t forget to put a copy of your report on your website. You could put out a press release about the report and distribute copies to your members.

Shadow reporting: How it is being organised in Australia

The Australian Federation of Disability Organisations has joined forces with other national disability rights organisations to produce a co-ordinated shadow report on the Australian Government’s implementation of the Convention. 

They believe working in a coalition will be an effective way to ensure the UN Disability Committee gets a comprehensive view of the current status of disability rights in Australia. They have created a dedicated website for the project where disabled people can tell them about their real experiences and problems using their Convention rights now.  Disability groups can use the workbook from the website to log key issues under each Convention right and examples of potential violations.

Remember – the UK Government has a duty to report on other Conventions, including the Convention of the Rights of the Child, the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. These reports should also cover disabled people. You could work with women’s, children’s or ethnic minority groups to ensure that disabled people’s issues on any of the conventions are covered in their shadow reports.