« Researching the CRPD On-Line | Home | But I’ve Never Written a Blog! How to Blog the CRPD Anyway »
Topic Ideas for the RatifyNow CRPD Blog Swarm 2008
By Andrea Shettle, MSW | March 18, 2008
What On Earth Do I Say?
Topic Ideas for the RatifyNow CRPD Blog Swarm 2008
March 30, 2008 Blog Swarm
Blogging the International Disability Rights Treaty
What’s the RatifyNow CRPD Blog Swarm 2008?
By now, you might know that Ratifynow.org will be hosting a blog swarm to celebrate the first anniversary of the international disability rights treaty, called the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). We’re looking for bloggers and other writers to contribute blog posts to the RatifyNow CRPD Blog Swarm 2008! Yes, you can participate whether or not you have a blog of your own.
If you missed the original announcement, it’s at http://ratifynow.org/2008/03/11/join-crpd-swarm-2008/
Perhaps you’ve thought of participating but weren’t sure what to say. Here are some ideas and questions to stimulate your thoughts. Whatever you write, just make sure your blog post is clearly linked to the theme of the blog swarm, which means it should celebrate, promote, or educate about the CRPD in some way!
Never Enough Time to Write
Depending on what you already know about the CRPD, these may require little or no prior research before you start writing. (If you do need a little background, read the RatifyNow FAQ at http://ratifynow.org/ratifynow-faq/ or the bulleted listing of civil rights covered in the CRPD at http://ratifynow.org/un-convention/civil-rights-in-the-crpd/).
- Personal stories can bring human rights issues to life. Have you or someone you know experienced human rights violations on the basis of your disability? How might the CRPD have helped?
- Why should all people who care about disability issues pay attention to the CRPD even if they are not human rights specialists? (Or, consider more targeted audiences: Why should teachers care? Why should parents care? Why should friends, colleagues, and neighbors care? Or social workers, doctors, etc?)
- Why should all people who care about human rights pay attention to the CRPD even if they don’t normally do anything with disability issues?
- Has your country ratified the CRPD? What do you hope the CRPD will mean to people with disabilities in your country after it takes full legal effect? (Check the list of ratifying countries. Remember that signing the CRPD is not the same as ratifying it.)
- Has your country signed the CRPD but not yet ratified it? Perhaps you could present an analysis of how quickly you think your country will move toward ratifying it. (Check the full list of signatories.)
- Has you country failed to sign the CRPD altogether? Why is that? And, why do you think it is important for your country to sign, and then ratify, the CRPD?
Taking A Little More Time
These ideas may take more time, either because they may require more research or because you may need to allow more time for the creative process.
- Skim through the CRPD. Perhaps one specific article will grab your interest. Research it. Then write about it and how you hope it might help people with disabilities, either in your country or internationally. (Read the original CRPD. Or, if you have trouble with the legal language, read the plain-language version of the CRPD.)
- Has your country created any new disability-friendly legislation, or abolished discriminatory laws, because of the CRPD? Research and find out. Then talk about it.
- Have an activist bent? Consider writing a “call to action.” What can your readers do to help get the CRPD ratified and implemented by more countries? And, why should they?
- Be creative! Can you celebrate the first anniversary of the CRPD with a poem, a short story, some pictures, or a video? (Please try to include descriptions of any pictures or video to make them accessible to blind people. Also, please try to include a transcript or captions for videos to make them accessible to deaf people.)
Need some quick facts on disability for your blog post? Try this fact sheet from the United Nations:
http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?navid=34&pid=18
Want to learn more about the CRPD; the ratification process; how it will be implemented; or what can be done if the rights of people with disabilities continue to be violated after the CRPD takes full legal force? Follow some of the links from the RatifyNow post entitled “Researching the CRPD On-Line”:
http://ratifynow.org/2008/03/17/researching-the-crpd-on-line/
Submit your blog posts to RatifyNow@gmail.com by March 27, 2008 with the URL of your blog post, your name (or screen name), and the name of your blog. Or, if you don’t have a blog, then submit the full text of your blog post with your name and we’ll find a home for it. Please be sure to include the phrase “BLOG SWARM” somewhere in your subject line.
Then come back to the RatifyNow.org blog on March 30, 2008, to read what all the other bloggers say about the CRPD!
Topics: CRPD Blog Swarm! |
One Response to “Topic Ideas for the RatifyNow CRPD Blog Swarm 2008”
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
March 22nd, 2008 at 9:47 am
[…] Topic Ideas for the RatifyNow CRPD Blog Swarm 2008 […]