Current and Emerging Disability Issues

Policymakers, civil society organizations and international development practitioners are recognizing the interdependence between disability, discrimination and vulnerability, and are gradually incorporating disability concerns in policy processes and programmes. Disability concerns are cross-cutting and range from such well established issues as physical accessibility, medical care, rehabilitation and support services, to more complex socio-economic and legal factors. This chapter presents an overview of the latter, with a reference to the ESCWA region whenever applicable.