Billions of people around the world lack internet access and access to educational resources. The Global Disability Rights Library (GDRL) project improves the lives of people with disabilities in developing countries by delivering digital knowledge on disability rights to advocates, policymakers, and civil society institutions. Information made available through this initiative has transformed the lives of people with disabilities in developing countries.
USICD has partnered with Chipster© Offline Education Solutions to collect an extensive digital repository with thousands of toolkits, best practice materials, national and regional disability legislation, video, audio, and other advocacy tools. This robust collection was previously delivered to Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) in countries that lack adequate internet access via an eGranary device –4 Terabyte portable hard drive that helped bring more than 2.7 million documents on disability rights to thousands of users beyond the reach of the Internet.
Initial funding received from the USAID several years ago allowed USICD and a former partner to ship eGranary Digital Libraries to 60 disabled persons organizations, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, academic institutes, and a public library, establishing a vibrant network of partners on the ground in 14 countries. We seek additional funding to hire librarians, update and expand disability content and provide it to previous recipients and new ones via our latest technology which can be used offline in laptops, computers, and smartphones. More specifically, funding support will enable USICD to:
- Expand and update the library’s Disability resource collection.
- Provide training at existing and new partner sites overseas.
- Provide the new Chipster Libraries to previous and new partner sites and countries
Contact us if you are interested in sponsoring this initiative.