Fighting 4 Rights: Young People's International Evidence Network for Disability & Solidarity

The Global Network for Young Researchers Co-creating Change (GNYRCC) will enable collaboration between young disabled people aged 12-30 and their academic allies, across borders and across disciplines, to reflect on experiences of marginalisation and to set further agendas for research. They will share personal and research narratives and advice on how they learn together about research, co-creating evidence accessible learning resources to inform further inclusive research to support ongoing activism. The proposed network is being initiated by UCan, a group of experience young disabled co-researcher. It aims, through developing creative participatory methods to strengthen young disabled people's opportunities for influence, to surface narratives and intersecting issues in contexts identified by young disabled people. The network will address inequalities in power in research by enabling young disabled people to co-direct internal funds for co-creating accessible learning resources and through four project grants used to develop their research locally and cross-nationally to amplify the perspectives of other disabled children and young people. The network will also provide insights into strategies for inclusive collaboration and impact that can be sustained beyond the funding period. GNYRCC will link young disabled researchers who are already instigating and carrying out impressive research with support from leading academics including CO-Is Brady, Franklin and Robinson, and practitioners globally, who are supportive of a social model of disability and actively involved in the advancement of young disabled people's rights. For example UCan trained young disabled people in Japan to carry out research exploring experiences of rights and this informed an alternative report to the UN about rights in Japan. Research by RIP:STARS has informed policy in the UK and is currently conducting a study in the Philippines. The Centre links academics and practitioners across the world, and these allies will be instrumental in bringing young disabled people together, especially from those majority nations where most of the populations live but are least advantaged. A long-term approach is required to establish and coordinate and sustain GNYRCC beyond the funding period, so GNYRCC will be managed by a core academic team at The Centre for Children and Young People's Participation at UCLan. GNYRCC is of huge importance in addressing the minimal consideration in public decisions and absence from policy making processes of young disabled people. Through working together, amplifying their voices and impact strategies through the co-creation of learning resources and guidance on international networking, research and reflection, GNYRCC will build capacity to enable young disabled people to inform future scrutiny of each country by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and to respond to national calls to strengthen young disabled people's participation in policymaking. For example, in the UK, this will build studies which provided evidence to the Speaker of the Commons and to a Select Committee. GNYRCC will achieve its aims through innovative creative multi-modal and multi-lingual participatory approaches using media such as film, podcasts, photography to collate narratives and learning about effective research and impact practice in ways that are accessible for a wide audience. Young researchers will and work with media specialists to create a film of the evolving network, challenges and enablers to research for change in young disabled people's lives. They will develop a Disability Discrimination Digibank. The cocreated learning resources and Digibank examples, with young people's agreement will be located in the UCanMakeChange2.org Advice and Evidence banks. This website, developed by UCan provides a platform to open debate and share learning from across the network and will be sustained for at least 5 years beyond the grant period.