The objective of this document is to present all the steps taken in Paraguay towards the elaboration of the National Action Plan for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (PANDPCD), its indicators and baseline. This work was firmly grounded in a human rights approach and based on national and international legislation. It involved the participation and collaboration of members from the public and the private sector concerned with the need of a public policy that recognizes and guarantees the exercise of rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Under the slogan “Nothing about us without us”, the civil society organizations represented in CONADIS have managed to develop the National Plan, which allows the State to move from the paradigm of the “benefactor state, to that of the State guarantor of the Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities”.

Through the Bridging the Gap project, the indicators were designed as a measurement tool to fulfil the principles outlined in the PANDPCD, which was approved by a Presidential Decree through the relevant State institutions. This was in line with the indicator development framework initiated by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights of Paraguay, which was shared at the CONADIS session on 3 December 2019 and was validated by the EEO and CSOs in the disability sector in May 2020.

The road ahead is still long. The implementation stage, a necessary step, will require adapting the instruments to local realities in every corner of the country. Achieving the dream of an inclusive society, where all persons live without discrimination, are able to claim their place and be respected, is a major challenge.