IDPP Executive Director and American University School of International Service Associate Professor Dr. Derrick Cogburn is co-organizing the pre-conference Working Group “Accelerating Change in Global Governance: Enhancing the Participation of Excluded and Marginalized Voices Through Information and Communication Technology” at the 2017 International Studies Association (ISA) Annual Convention on Tuesday, 21 February 2017. Dr. Tina Kempin Reuter, IDPP Faculty Associate and Associate Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Executive Director of its Institute for Human Rights, will co-organize the Working Group.

This unique ISA Working Group will catalyze a network of interdisciplinary scholars interested in understanding the theoretical foundation of and practical remedies for enhancing the participation of excluded and marginalized voices in global governance, with a particular focus on the human rights issues of the more than one billion persons with disabilities worldwide. The Working Group will bring together multistakeholder participants and work toward developing a model and set of recommendations toward the publication of a handbook on the use of ICTs to facilitate the active involvement of marginalized voices in global governance. It is planned that this Working Group will also feed into the development of a United Nations Working Group that focuses on addressing these issues.

In addition to the all-day workshop on 21 February, Working Group participants will follow a recommended "path" of sessions throughout the ISA conference and reconvene for two additional Working Group sessions throughout the conference to share and discuss what they have gained: a working lunch on 22 February and a wrap-up meeting on 24 February.

Workshop Program:

8:00 – 9:00: Registration, Informal Networking and Continental Breakfast

9:00 – 9:15: Welcome Remarks and Introductions: Dr. Derrick L. Cogburn and Dr. Tina Kempin Reuter

Part I: Marginalized Populations and Access to Global Governance

9:15 – 9:30: Accessible Global Governance: Overcoming the (In)visibility of Persons with Disabilities in the UN System – Dr. Derrick L. Cogburn, American University  

9:30 – 9:45: Discussion

9:45 – 10:00: Human Rights as an Agent of Change in Global Governance: Advocacy and Activism on Behalf of Marginalized Populations – Dr. Tina Kempin Reuter, University of Alabama at Birmingham

10:00 – 10:15: Discussion

10:15 – 10:30: Coffee/Tea Break

Part II: Multistakeholder Responses

10:30 – 11:00: International Organization Responses (Virtually)

• UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Department of Social Policy and Development (DSPD)/SCRPD – Ms. Daniela Bas, DSPD

11:00 – 11:30: Government Responses (Physically)

• US Perspectives on Multistakeholder Internet Governance – Ms. Fiona Alexander, NTIA

11:30 – 12:00: Civil Society Responses (Physically and Virtually)

• Coordinating Policy Engagement – Mr. Vladimir Cuk, IDA
• Integrating Local and International Voices – Mr. Mohammed Ali Loutfy, DPI/IDA

12:00 – 1:30: Working Lunch and Keynote Address

“Enhancing Disability Participation in Habitat III: The New Urban Agenda” - Dr. Victor Pineda, President, World Enabled; President, GAATES; Co-Chair, Persons with Disabilities Partner Constituency Group, GAP; DIAUD Network

1:30 – 3:00: Academic Responses (Physically)

• Active Learning for Capacity Building – Dr. Nanette Levinson, American University
• “Attending the Global Classroom: Using Simulations to Connect Students” – Dr. Hemda Ben-Yahuda, Bar Ilan University
• Cross-Cultural Negotiations – Dr. Selcan Kaynak, Bogazici University
• “Online Education for Inclusive Global Development” International Development – Dr. Mary Jane Parmentier, Arizona State University
• Social Media and Mobilization of Underrepresented and Marginalized Voices - Dr. Antoinette Pole, Montclair State University

Part III: Accelerating Change: The Way Forward

3:00 – 3:45: Working Group Deliverables

• CRPD Advocacy Toolkit Mobile App Launch (Cogburn)
• Handbook on ICT and Inclusive Global Governance (Cogburn and Kempin Reuter)
• Book Launches:

Transnational Advocacy Networks in the Information Society (Cogburn)
Disability Rights Advocacy Online (Trevisan)
Making Disability Rights Real in Southeast Asia (Cogburn and Kempin Reuter)

• Proposed UN Working Group (ISA at UNAI Partnership)

3:45 – 4:00: Coffee/Tea Break

4:00 – 4:30: ISA at United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) Project

• Presentation and Discussion of ISA-UN Partnership Opportunity – Mr. Hajie Sesay and Ms. Sharice Lane, IDPP

4:30 – 5:00: Wrap-Up and Next Steps: ISA 2017 and Beyond – Dr. Tina Kempin Reuter and Dr. Derrick Cogburn