Abstract
This scoping study assessed the realization of the rights for persons with disabilities in Rwanda since the signing of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) in 2008. Underpinned by the five-stage framework of Arksey and O’Malley, the scoping study examined peer-reviewed literature published between 2008 and 2017. Nine electronic databases were searched using keywords specific to disability in Rwanda. Data were charted by three reviewers according to pre-determined and emergent categories. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the data sources. A total of 60 scholarly articles met the inclusion criteria. Within the research, studies pertaining to the UN CRPD Articles of health, awareness raising, accessibility, and children with disabilities were the most published. The literature identified a movement towards the realization of the rights for persons with disabilities in Rwanda since the country signed the UN CRPD. Despite efforts to meet these rights, discrimination against persons with disabilities still exists and greater investment in the disability sector is needed, particularly for justice, social protection, and mental health services. Given the state of the evidence, concerning research gaps also exist in regards to deinstitutionalization and protection issues (i.e., violence and abuse). This consolidation of evidence may help to inform the decision-making priorities for government and civil society organizations in policy and programming and also direct future research.
Highlights
The signing of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) on May 3, 2008 is one of the most important disability actions taken in Rwanda to date
A scoping study was chosen to guide this work in order to summarize literature in fields containing a paucity of rigorous evidence, by incorporating literature that encompasses a broad range of study designs with the aim of drawing conclusions regarding the realization of rights of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Rwanda since the signing of the UN CRPD in 2008
The research question was: ‘What is known from the existing literature about the realization of the rights of PWDs since Rwanda signed the UN CRPD in 2008?’ This research question enabled the assessment of the degree to which research has kept pace with the progress being made in Rwanda since efforts to support the rights of PWDs were declared
Summary
The signing of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) on May 3, 2008 is one of the most important disability actions taken in Rwanda to date. The signing of the UN CRPD marked national recognition of the rights for persons with disabilities (PWDs) and put into effect in Rwanda the first all-encompassing human rights treaty of the century. The signing of the UN CRPD is viewed as a landmark in the history of the disability rights movement in Rwanda, as it represents the adoption of a social, rather than a medical, model of disability. The UN CRPD was adopted by the United Nation General Assembly in 2006 as a human rights treaty, opened to signatories in 2007, and came into force in 2008. While the UN CRPD does not create any new rights or entitlements, it expresses existing rights in a mode that
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