WASHINGTON D.C. – The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DLR) appointed Judith Heumman as the Special Advisor for International Disability Rights, the U.S. State Department announced on Friday.

Heumann will lead efforts to develop a comprehensive strategy to promote the rights of persons with disabilities worldwide. She will also have to coordinate an interagency process for the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The new Special Advisor was the previous Director for the Department on Disability Services for the District of Columbia. Before that, she served as the World Bank’s first Adviser on Disability and Development, and lead consultant to the Global Partnership for Disability and Development form 2002 to 2007.

Heumann is an internationally recognized leader in the disability community and a lifelong civil rights advocate for disadvantaged persons.