Community Meetings

To ensure everyone participates in community meetings:

• Choose an accessible meeting venue.
• Provide information about the meeting, handouts and other communication material are accessible.
• Use gender, disability and culturally sensitive language and communication free of stereotypes.
• Pay attention to individuals with a pattern of speaking less and invite them to offer their thoughts.
• Give participants the opportunity to ask the speaker to stop or slow down. Use color cards, whereby participants raise a red card when they didn’t understand, yellow when they wish the speaker to slow down and green to show they understand the content.  

To ensure participation of persons with disabilities:

• Participants who are deaf or hard of hearing require the presence of a sign language interpreter or speech to text interpreter to participate in the meeting. To find an interpreter, consult with participants and reach out to local organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs).
• Blind persons and persons with low vision can be supported by providing electronic version of all materials prior to the meeting. 
• Persons with intellectual disabilities and psychosocial disabilities might need facilitators or family members that interprets technical and complex terms into simpler language.