Table of Contents
The UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia invites eligible Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) in China to submit proposals for small, practical and community-led initiatives that advance disability inclusion, combat discrimination and generate lessons to inform more inclusive communities and public services.
The grant scheme is guided by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the UNESCO Disability Inclusion Strategy 2026–2029. The UNESCO Strategy provides a comprehensive framework for accelerating disability inclusion across the Organization’s programmes, policies and operations. Guided by the principle “Nothing About Us Without Us”, it places the meaningful participation of persons with disabilities at the centre of implementation and is structured around three pillars: strengthening UNESCO’s organizational capacity; enhancing disability-inclusive programmatic work; and mainstreaming and consolidating disability inclusion across the Organization.
This grant scheme translates that framework into locally grounded action. Applying the Strategy’s twin-track approach, it enables OPDs to lead practical initiatives that integrate disability inclusion throughout project design and implementation while taking targeted action to address specific barriers. It will also generate experience and lessons to inform future programmes, services and policy dialogue.
2. Purpose and objectives
The grant scheme supports OPD-led local action that advances disability equality, inclusion and meaningful participation, and generates practical evidence to inform future programmes, services and policy dialogue.
The grant scheme aims to:
- enable OPDs to design and lead practical initiatives responding to locally identified barriers to the rights, participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities;
- support action in the priority areas set out in Section 4: participation in public decision-making; arts, culture and media; combating discrimination; inclusive sport; and climate resilience and disaster risk reduction; and
- generate practical evidence, lived experiences and lessons that can inform future programmes, services and policy dialogue.
3. Geographic scope and alignment
Activities must take place in China. Proposals must address a clearly defined local need and align with relevant national or subnational priorities, policies or plans, for example, those concerning disability inclusion, accessibility, youth participation, gender equality, culture or inclusive public services. Applicants must identify the relevant priorities, policies or plans and clearly explain how the proposed project aligns with them.
4. Funding priorities
The funding priorities below define the principal areas supported under this Call. Applicants should identify one primary priority and may address a second priority only when it is necessary to achieve the main result. Proposals should not combine several priorities through disconnected activities.
Each proposal must clearly identify:
- the specific barrier, discriminatory practice or inclusion gap to be addressed;
- the persons with disabilities and other stakeholders who will participate;
- the practical change the initiative is expected to achieve; and
- how that change will be documented and, where appropriate, sustained or replicated.
Examples of eligible interventions are provided under each priority. They are illustrative rather than exhaustive, but all proposals must meet the specific requirements stated under the selected priority.
4.1 Leadership and meaningful participation in public decision-making
This priority supports initiatives that enable persons with disabilities, particularly young persons and members of underrepresented groups, to influence policies, plans, programmes, public services and other decisions affecting their rights, lives and communities. It concerns meaningful participation in public and institutional decision-making, not merely participation in project activities.
Eligible interventions may include:
- accessible consultations linked to a defined policy, plan, programme or public service;
- leadership, advocacy and policy-engagement skills development connected to a specific opportunity for participation;
- OPD-led collection and presentation of evidence, lived experiences or recommendations to decision-makers;
- advisory mechanisms linked to a specific institution or decision-making process;
- structured dialogue between OPDs and public authorities, service providers or community institutions; or
- participatory monitoring of the implementation or accessibility of a policy, programme or public service.
Proposals must identify the specific decision-making process, institution, policy, programme or service they seek to influence; the role that persons with disabilities will play; and a realistic pathway through which their contributions may inform decisions. General leadership training, stand-alone consultations or dialogue events without a clearly identified decision-making process or follow-up mechanism will not be prioritized.
4.2 Arts, culture and media for disability equality
This priority supports the use of artistic, cultural and media expression to challenge harmful stereotypes, broaden public understanding of disability and strengthen the visibility, voice and creative agency of persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities must participate as creators, curators, performers, storytellers or editorial decision-makers.
Eligible interventions may include:
- co-creation and public presentation of short films, performances, exhibitions, digital stories or other accessible cultural works;
- OPD-led storytelling or documentation of diverse lived experiences;
- collaboration between OPDs and cultural institutions, media organizations or creative professionals to improve disability representation; or
- accessible public engagement and dialogue centred on an artistic, cultural or media work.
Proposals must identify the audience they intend to reach, the attitude or narrative they seek to influence, and how the artistic, cultural or media activity will contribute to greater awareness, reduced stigma, stronger participation or another identifiable disability-inclusion result.
Initiatives involving personal stories, images or audiovisual content must address informed consent, privacy, safeguarding, responsible representation, accessibility, and rights relating to the ownership, use and distribution of content.
4.3 Combating discrimination and changing exclusionary practices
This priority supports initiatives that address a clearly identified form of discrimination affecting persons with disabilities in a specific community, service, institution or area of public life. Proposals should seek to change discriminatory attitudes, behaviors or practices—not only increase general awareness of disability.
Particular attention may be given to intersecting forms of discrimination faced by women and girls with disabilities, young persons with disabilities, persons with intellectual, psychosocial or developmental disabilities, and persons living in rural, remote or underserved communities.
Eligible interventions may include:
- OPD-led identification and documentation of a specific discriminatory barrier or practice;
- accessible rights education connected to practical support, referral or reasonable accommodation;
- targeted engagement with families, educators, employers, service providers or community institutions;
- co-development and testing of more inclusive procedures, communications or service practices; or
- peer-led action that strengthens the agency of persons experiencing discrimination and enables them to advocate for change.
Proposals must identify the form of discrimination to be addressed, the groups and settings affected, the audiences or institutions to be engaged, and the specific change the initiative seeks to achieve. One-off awareness-raising events or general disability-information campaigns without a defined target audience, follow-up mechanism or intended behavioral or institutional change will not be prioritized.
4.4 Inclusive sport for leadership and community inclusion
This priority supports initiatives that use inclusive sport as a means to strengthen leadership, agency, social connection and equal participation, particularly among young persons with disabilities and persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Eligible interventions may include:
- athlete or youth leadership development linked to concrete roles in planning, facilitation, advocacy or community engagement;
- inclusive or unified sport programmes that create sustained interaction between persons with and without disabilities;
- peer learning, teamwork or mentorship through sport;
- athlete- or OPD-led action to challenge stereotypes within schools, communities or sporting environments; or
- testing practical measures to make an existing community sport programme more inclusive and accessible.
Persons with disabilities, including athlete leaders where relevant, should have meaningful roles in designing, implementing and evaluating the initiative. Proposals must explain how the sport activities will contribute to an identifiable inclusion result, such as increased leadership, stronger social participation, reduced stigma or improved inclusive practice.
Proposals focused primarily on competitions, one-off sporting events, equipment purchases or general physical fitness, without a clear leadership or social-inclusion outcome, will not be prioritized.
4.5 Disability-inclusive climate action and disaster risk reduction
This priority supports practical, community-level initiatives that strengthen the participation, safety and resilience of persons with disabilities in relation to climate-related hazards, disasters and emergencies. Initiatives should address a locally identified risk or preparedness gap and align, where relevant, with national or local priorities and mechanisms in China.
Eligible interventions may include:
- OPD participation in local risk assessment, preparedness planning or emergency exercises;
- mapping of accessibility barriers, communication gaps, support needs and available community resources;
- development, adaptation or testing of accessible risk information and early-warning communication;
- community preparedness measures co-designed and tested by persons with disabilities; or
- structured engagement with local authorities, service providers or community organizations to improve disability-inclusive preparedness practices.
Proposals must address a clearly defined disability-related barrier in climate resilience or disaster preparedness and deliver a feasible community-level result. Activities centred on general environmental awareness, emergency relief or major infrastructure works, without a clear disability-inclusive preparedness or resilience outcome, fall outside the scope of this priority.
read more: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/opd-led-small-grants-disability-inclusion-china?hub=701
