The Bridge Strategic Plan, originally developed to guide the Disability Rights Fund and Disability Rights Advocacy Fund (DRF/ DRAF) through the pandemic period from July 2020 through December 2021, is now being amended and extended through 2022 in recognition of ongoing complications from COVID-19 and the current organizational executive leadership transition. Amendments to the Plan are based on an assessment process led by the organizations’ Evaluation & Learning Manager.1 Extension will give a new executive director time to coordinate development of the next multi-year Strategic Plan.
The start of 2021 was meant to begin a new multi-year strategic plan, one which would guide the Disability Rights Fund and the Disability Rights Advocacy Fund through a time of much-needed growth. However, 2020 became a year of pivots, adjustments, and opportunities to be a responsible and proactive organization in a time of a global pandemic. The organizations instead decided to create a Bridge Strategy to cover the time period through the end of 2021.
The Bridge Strategy takes into account the context, as well as the challenges and opportunities, in which we operate. It is intended to be a living document that enables DRF and DRAF to remain responsive and nimble in a complex and ever-changing world, and a baseline for the next strategic planning process to come.
The Bridge Strategy builds on DRF/DRAF’s active Strategic Plan 2017-2020, which coincides with the start of our tenth year of operations – a natural reflection point. The strategic plan was developed on the heels of a very successful and exciting 2015, which brought progress and positive change not just within our organizations, but also across the national and global disability community.
One of the global community’s greatest achievements was the inclusion of concrete references to persons with disabilities in the new global development framework, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Another global achievement in 2015 was the passage of the disability-inclusive Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. At the same time, recognizing the closing of civil society space and risks to human rights defenders are critical as we move forward. By defining a process for ongoing monitoring and adaptation, we will use it as a guide to help us prioritize, adapt, and learn, rather than as a rigid strategy that ties our hands in the face of internal and external shifts.
Download the DRF/DRAF Strategic Plan 2017-2020 in PDF or Word