The State Department is launching a playbook meant to prioritize disability rights and accessibility — both within its workforce and across its diplomatic mission.
Secretary of State Blinken said Monday that the playbook is meant to show employees “how they can incorporate disability issues into their own work,” and outlines how accessibility intersects with U.S. foreign policy.
“History shows us that equitable societies tend to be more stable, more resilient, more innovative. When our policies exclude those with disabilities, they actually fail all of us,” Blinken said at the department’s headquarters. “But when we incorporate the needs, the insights of people with disabilities, we all benefit from their talents, from their expertise, from their leadership.”
The playbook is available online for internal use. The department expects to release a public version of the playbook next month.
About 1.3 billion people, or 16% of the global population, have at least one disability.
The department’s playbook would preserve some of the Biden administration’s work on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, as it prepares for a change in administrations.
“These suggestions are straightforward. They’re scalable, they’re standardized, based on experience and lessons learned from the field. So to everyone at State, take a look at this playbook and look for ways that you can do your part,” Blinken said.
The State Department, under the Biden administration, named its first chief diversity and inclusion officer — an elevation of its previous chief diversity officer position. The position now directly reports to Blinken’s office.
Blinken highlighted some of the State Department’s efforts to become a more accessible workplace for employees with disabilities.
Federal News Network first reported earlier this year that the State Department permanently switched over to a virtual application and assessment for Foreign Service candidates.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the department came up with online alternatives for some in-person assessments of Foreign Service candidates.
“That means that candidates don’t have to travel here to Washington, D.C. for an interview,” Blinken said.
On the advice of its chief diversity and inclusion officer, Blinken said the department is also making the bidding process for senior positions, including deputy secretaries, more equitable and transparent, “to build a pipeline for leaders with disabilities.”
“We still have a lot more work to do, to address the systemic barriers that exist for diplomats with disabilities,” he added.
The department also set a new standard of medical clearance for prospective diplomats earlier this year, as part of its settlement of a lawsuit spanning nearly two decades.
The State Department is implementing these changes — and paid more than $37 million to settle claims of disability discrimination — after it rejected or delayed hiring more than 230 individuals who were unable to obtain a “Class 1” or “Worldwide Available” medical clearance.
About 8% of the department’s full-time permanent Foreign Service officers have a disability. Nearly 12% of Foreign Service specialists — including medical providers, IT workers and Diplomatic Security personnel — have a disability.
The department is also taking steps to make its global real estate footprint more accessible.
As of January 2023, about 72% of Foreign Service facilities were either “substantially” or fully accessible to individuals with disabilities. About 56% of Foreign Service office buildings are also substantially or fully accessible.
Sara Minkara, the department’s special advisor on international disability rights, developed the playbook, along with employees at the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru.
“Look at your work, look at your bureau, look at your embassy, look at your office, do a whole wide analysis and see where disability is not integrated, and please commit to taking this forward, because it’s important to diplomacy. It’s important to foreign policy,” Minkara said.
“It’s important to diplomacy, it’s important to foreign policy. And it’s not enough for you to say, ‘Bring a seat up to the table.’ Let’s be honest, a lot of times the table, the room, it’s not physically accessible. It’s not accessible communication-wise, technology-wise, narrative-wise. There’s a lot of barriers we still need to break down,” she added.
Minkara said that people with disabilities “are all too often excluded from critical conversations” within the State Department’s diplomatic mission — from shaping the rules and norms of emerging technology to growing the economy.
“We’re not vulnerable because we’re disabled. We’re vulnerable because the system and society is not accessible to us, and does not think about us,” Minkara said. “We’re not vulnerable because we’re disabled. We’re vulnerable because we are an invisible population, or it’s not accessible to us, and we’re left behind.”
Minkara said the State Department will develop a “thematic toolkit” as part of implementing the playbook next year.
“We’re going to develop a playbook with our departments across the U.S. government, to illustrate how disability is cross-cutting. So then, we can take it a step further, and our government counterparts can carry this work forward with us,” she said.
The State Department opened its Access Center in 2020 to provide assistive technology to employees with disabilities. The facility, across the street from its Foggy Bottom headquarters, is the largest of its kind in the federal government.
The assistive technology at the Access Center runs the gamut from ergonomic computer mice and keyboards to screen magnifiers, assistive listening devices and deaf-to-hearing communication systems.
At least 17% of the State Department’s civil service workforce has at least one disability.
The center is also a resource for supervisors and managers to better understand the workplace needs of their employees.
However, Minkara said accessibility “shouldn’t be just on the shoulders of the disability office or community.”
“When you don’t include us or make the system accessible, it’s going to be costly later on,” Minkara said. “We become a burden on society, and you’re not tapping into the GDP that we can be contributing [to]… or tapping into our innovation. Why do we still see disability as an add-on, as an afterthought, as a special thing, as a costly thing? We need to reframe this conversation.”
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