TCI Country Mission in South Korea
‘Through this mission, I understood that the locus of the issues is not within me but outside, and that made me feel lighter.’
That shift is what the CRPD enables when movements lead the agenda and absorb the language and practice of the human rights model of disability.
TCI Global conducted a country mission in South Korea, walking alongside local OPDs of persons with psychosocial disabilities, peers and allies from across the country. Across two days, we worked through the building blocks that movements need to solidify their ground. Using the CRPD and its general principles as a foundation, understanding models of disability, strengthening identity of being persons with psychosocial disabilities and sharpening how we name and identify disability-based discrimination and demand reasonable accommodation as a right.
We mobilized space for difficult and complex discussions too. Do systems treat ‘medical care’ as a substitute for rights? Even though we live outside hospitals, does the mental health system still confine us in invisible ways? In an open and honest debate, the movement reaffirmed the CRPD baseline that rights are non-negotiable and support must never convert into substituted decision-making dressed up as ‘care’, within institutions or outside in communities.
The movement also mapped key challenges and concrete recommendations, identified who must be targeted and built clarity on how stakeholders can support, ending with preparation for a multi-stakeholder dialogue, shaped by the South Korean movement’s own priorities. The multistakeholder meeting was attended by various allies who listened to the movement leaders demanding for meaningful change. TCI also stood firm with our peers at the National Assembly of South Korea, a gesture facilitated by National Assembly member Ms. Yeji Kim 김예지, through a press conference, amplifying these demands in a national space.
We also visited a peer respite centre that demonstrated what CRPD aligned support can look like in practice, guided by core values of upholding respect, choice, dignity, and equality.
We thank the organizers for the mission work, KMDP-CIL, KDF, and RIDRIK, kindly supported by DLG. We also profusely thank all the strong leaders and OPDs that made time, attended the mission, shared their experiences and thought processes, and strengthened our belief in the collective voice of our movement of persons with psychosocial disabilities.
