People with disabilities want to be where decisions are made and where the world is designed. Inclusion will never be possible if the decisions that shape the world are made only by a few, for a few. So CoorDown and New York agency, SMALL, are launching the international awareness campaign, NO DECISION WITHOUT US, that asks for the presence of people with disabilities at the tables where decisions are made, whether regarding personal autonomy or a social and civic role.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least one billion people, 15% of the global population, live with a disability. But they are not the protagonists. The rooms where decisions are made remain closed and there is a risk that they are becoming increasingly inaccessible. This applies to all people with disabilities.
Two years ago, the film, Ridiculous Excuses Not To Be Inclusive, began with these words, “In a world increasingly attentive to inclusivity, only one trick remains to avoid it: invent ridiculous excuses.” Today, we see steps backward on the issue of inclusion. While the hard-won rights and achievements of people with disabilities at work, school, in sports, and society are being challenged and erased by decrees, CoorDown and associations around the world, along with all people with disabilities, not only want to resist but want to take a hundred steps forward.
The NO DECISION WITHOUT US film includes a captivating, original song that brings people with various disabilities, in a range of settings, together to assert their rightful place in society. They are united by their demand to be part of the conversations that shape their lives—from the clothes they wear, to how they live, from school to work, and how the spaces around them are designed—because what is right for some is not always right for all.
From today until March 21, @CoorDown’s social media channels, from TikTok to Instagram and Facebook, will be sharing and amplifying the stories of people with disabilities and their families, highlighting the decisions they were excluded from, under the rallying cry, “I want to be in the room where decisions are made. No decision about us, without us.”
NO DECISION WITHOUT US is available on the YouTube channel and all social platforms of CoorDown and partners. An international professional cast has been chosen for the film, featuring Mia Noelle Rodriguez, the young actress and singer with Down syndrome of 16 years old, along with Caterina Scorsone, the beloved Grey’s Anatomy actor and global star, mom of a daughter with Down syndrome, and spokesperson for the Global Down Syndrome Foundation – with the actors, actresses and performers with disabilities who in addition to acting have performed the original song of the film, Blake Stadnik, Jahmai Davis, Annika Nadine Hutsler, Ali Chapman, Danny Gomez, Cole Sibus, Domonique Brown.
The campaign was produced by Indiana Production, directed by Rich Lee, with cinematography by Christopher Probst. The music was composed and performed by Stabbiolo Music.
This international campaign was born in Italy with CoorDown and is supported by the Down’s Syndrome Association UK, which has been working with the Italian NGO in this annual communication project since 2014 — and includes contributions from various international associations that strengthen its global impact: Down Syndrome Australia, National Down Syndrome Society, Canadian Down Syndrome Society, Global Down Syndrome Foundation, Together Academy, New Zealand Down Syndrome Association, Down Syndrome International and With Not For.
Fondazione Cariplo joins has also joined forces with CoorDown and launches a €20 million disability intervention programme, that aims to guarantee the life project of people with disabilities. And the campaign has received support from Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, ABMauri Italy Spa Società Benefit, and Eco Demolizioni.
This year’s campaign also features some of the cast wearing pieces from fashion retailer, Primark’s, innovative adaptive clothing range. Developed with award-winning adaptive fashion designer, Victoria Jenkins, the collection is designed to be inclusive, with a focus on universal design to make dressing easier for people with a range of disabilities. It includes features like magnetic zippers, snap fastenings, waist loops, and hidden openings for tube, stoma, or catheter access, alongside a specialist seated collection created to be comfortable and practical for wheelchair users.
An audio description version of the video and a descriptive transcript was created by the media accessibility company, Scribely.
