Membership and Representation

Some DPOs represent persons with disabilities in general, while others concentrate on those with a particular disability or on specific groups, such as women or children. The latter are important, given that priorities, barriers and concerns vary significantly depending on the nature of the disability. Cross-disability organizations, however, can be better placed to promote the rights of “people who all have been traditionally excluded and marginalized from society, and experience similar barriers”.[1] Although most organizations in the Arab region, such as the Youth Association of the Blind (Lebanon) and the National Union of the Deaf (the Sudan), focus on specific types of disability, there are also cross-disability DPOs, such as the Palestinian General Union of People with Disability.

Certain groups of persons with disabilities, including women, rural dwellers and refugees, appear to be underrepresented in Arab DPO movements.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Disability from 2003 to 2009, Sheikha Hissa al-Thani, noted in 2006 that women with disabilities in the region lacked support organizations to “address their specific needs as women and as disabled persons”.[2] Such women tend to experience discrimination on the basis of both their gender and disability, and thus need more effective representation.

Persons with disabilities living in rural areas are another group that risks exclusion from DPOs. Evidence from Yemen indicates that DPOs tend to be concentrated in cities and have difficulty representing rural people with disabilities.[3] Most persons with disabilities in countries such as Egypt, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen live in rural areas (figure 1). Some DPOs have tried to address the problem by, for example, opening branches outside major urban areas, but little is known about the impact of such initiatives.

Figure 1.  Proportion of persons with disabilities residing in rural areas in selected Arab countries

Source: ESCWA and the League of Arab States, 2014.

Refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) with disabilities, often among the most marginalized groups, also appear to be inadequately represented among Arab DPOs. Research in five displacement contexts around the world (including Jordan and Yemen) has found that: “In all the countries surveyed, there was little to no contact between refugees with disabilities and local disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs) and no attempts by local DPOs to integrate refugees with disabilities in their activities”.[4] Given the spread of armed conflict and refugee flows in the Arab region, the issue urgently requires attention.