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DRI’s work and media campaigns have exposed to the world the horrors these children face. The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Huffington Post, BBC, Al Jazeera, CNN, social media, ABC, NPR, NBC, news and documentaries – just to name a few - have continually covered DRI’s work, including DRI’s opinion and editorial pieces, resulting in uninterrupted pressure on those who have the power to assist in making change.

Lend your voice to strengthen disability advocacy: Complete the survey

Complete the Survey

We need your help on a project to strengthen disability advocacy around the world – especially for children and adults detained in orphanages, psychiatric hospitals or other institutions. There is no substitute for getting inside closed facilities to meet people face-to-face and hear their stories. By documenting conditions, we expose abuses and hold governments accountable. We are striving for the day when no one is segregated from society because of a disability.

The Meeting Place - Issue 1 (April 2026)

The Meeting Place provides brief and accessible selection of recent highlights and opinions, relevant for children with disabilities. Led by Disability Rights International, and in collaboration with the Global Coalition on Deinstitutionalization (GC-DI) and Lumos Foundation, The Disability Rights Initiative for Children works to bring together the disability and child rights communities — creating a true meeting place for collaboration, shared learning, and coordinated action.

DRI petition leads to UN condemnation of Mexico institutions

An official United Nations (UN) Inquiry found “grave and systemic” abuses against children and adults with disabilities in Mexico, segregated from society and subject to violence and abuse. The UN representatives obtained heinous information visiting institutions – psychiatric facilities, orphanages, children’s group homes and other closed institutions. See DRI video showing atrocious abuses and recommendations for reform.

An Institution Is Not a Home: Mexican Government considers supportive housing

Disability Rights International (DRI) recently convened a forum for the Mexican Senate to highlight community-based housing models for people with psychiatric, psychosocial and intellectual disabilities.

Around the world, DRI has found that many people with disabilities (PWD), and those abandoned on the streets, end up living their lives in institutions. The lack of community support often combines with the misconception that they are unable to have - or do not deserve - a home of their own.

A social and artistic project "VOICES: Women, Children, and Disability" was presented in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine on August 9, 2025

This Saturday in Ivano-Frankivsk (Ukraine), DRI-Ukraine presented the results of "VOICES: Women, Children, and Disability." The intimate presentation and opening of the exhibition brought together the project participants, the team that worked on it, and experts in the field. VOICES: Women, Children, and Disability is a first-person reflection project dedicated to the diverse experiences of women. It consists of a catalog and exhibition canvases featuring portraits of 12 women from different parts of Ukraine who have experience with motherhood and disability, either their own or that of their children.

Sweeping legal victory before Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

The Inter-American Commission just announced a decision against Guatemala in the case of Federico Mora Patients v. Guatemala that sets legal precedent to protect people with disabilities in Guatemala and throughout the Americas. The case was brought by Disability Rights International (DRI) and the Guatemalan Colectivo Vida Independiente, joined by the Center for Health and Human Rights, O’Neill Institute of Georgetown University Law Center.

Trafficking of children and adults with disabilities: DRI's Director Eric Rosenthal joins UN Special Rapporteur Heba Hagrass in speaking out at the United Nations

Eric Rosenthal, Executive Director of Disability Rights International (DRI), discussed DRI findings on exploitation and trafficking from institutions, joined by UN Special Rapporteur on Disability and international activists. 

View Full Event Recording: UN Web TV - Live Broadcast

DRI sponsored UN COSP virtual side-event on June 9th - Overcoming abuse, trauma, and exclusion in indigenous communities

Disability Rights International (DRI) hosted this UN COSP virtual side-event exploring the challenges that indigenous people with disabilities are facing in communities in Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and the United States.

Overcoming abuse, trauma, and exclusion in indigenous communities: 
Innovative approaches to mental health and education
Monday, June 9 | 11:30-12:45 PM ET
Zoom Webinar

Speakers:

Introduction & Moderator:

International Forum "Children and Adolescents with Disabilities: Perspectives, Rights and Challenges"

To mark the forthcoming Children's Day in Mexico, on April 23, 2025, Disability Rights International and the Mexico City Institute for People with Disabilities organized the International Forum "Children and Adolescents with Disabilities: Perspectives, Rights and Challenges" set out to foster a space for dialogue and reflection of the diverse challenges faced by children and adolescents with disabilities and their support networks and families in different contexts.