Background

Disability is part of the human condition[1]. Globally over 1 billion persons, or 15 percent of the world’s population, live with some form of disability.[2] When the family members of persons with disabilities are taken into account, an even greater number of people are affected by disability. As a result of global trends in population ageing and an increase in chronic health conditions, natural disasters, armed conflicts and violence, the incidence of impairment and disability among the general population is only going to increase.

In all regions of the world, persons with disabilities face exclusion, discrimination and challenges to the enjoyment of their fundamental rights and their inclusion in development. Persons with disabilities are disproportionately likely to live in poverty and do not have equal access to education, health care, employment opportunities, housing, social protection systems, justice, and cultural expression and participation in political life. The ability of persons with disabilities to participate in society is often frustrated because physical environments, transportation and information and communications systems are not easily accessible.

In many cases discrimination results, at least in part, from negative attitudes and perceptions, misunderstandings, and lack of awareness. For example, the misconception that persons with disabilities are not productive members of the workforce may lead employers to discriminate against applicants with disabilities, even if they are highly qualified to perform the work. Derogatory attitudes and discrimination from external sources also impact on the self- perceptions of persons with disabilities, creating additional barriers to participation in society and development. In many communities the language used to describe or refer to an individual with a disability may serve to reinforce oppression. Very often, offensive terminology makes its way into laws and policies. Misconceptions surrounding disability may also impact on the design and implementation of development programmes in a way that presents barriers to participation, as both agents and beneficiaries, by persons with disabilities.

Heightened levels of exclusion are often faced by individuals with specific types of disabilities, such as mental health, intellectual or psychosocial disabilities, as well as by those experiencing multiple discrimination on the basis of disability coupled with other aspects of identity, including gender, age (children, youth and older persons), ethnicity, race, indigenous or minority status or other categories. For example, in some societies customary laws or attitudes toward women may prohibit them from owning property or fully participating in public life. Members of racial or ethnic minorities are often prohibited from speaking their own language or practicing their religion. A person with a disability who also belongs to another marginalized group may therefore face several layers of discrimination and barriers to his or her human rights (for example, a woman with a disability who belongs to an ethnic minority).

Globally, governments have worked together to try to address the situation of persons with disabilities. In 2006 these efforts resulted in the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The Convention recognizes that disability is both a development and a human rights issue, requiring different action at different levels by multiple stakeholders.

Disability is both a development and a human Rights Issue 

Disability is a development issue because of the strong bidirectional link between poverty and disability. Disability can cause poverty by preventing full participation by persons with disabilities in the economic and social life of their communities, particularly where appropriate support and accommodation are not available. Indeed, there is a growing consensus that the most pressing issue faced globally by persons with disabilities is not their specific impairment, but rather their lack of equitable access to resources, including education, employment, health care and social and legal support systems, resulting in persons with disabilities experiencing disproportionately high levels of poverty. Poverty may also cause disability through malnutrition, poor healthcare, and precarious working or living conditions.[3]

The multitude of barriers that limit access by people with disabilities to education, employment, housing, health care and rehabilitation, transportation, and recreation also serve to limit their participation in developments or enjoyment of development processes that could improve their lives. Ensuring full participation by people with disabilities in the planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of development programmes is critical to their success. The Convention recognizes this, underscoring the importance of the right to participate in decision-making, including in development. It thus sees persons with disabilities as essential actors in development processes. It is also the first Convention to include a specific article focused on the role of international cooperation in supporting implementation.

Governments working at international level have also recognized that it is impossible genuinely to achieve development goals without the inclusion and integration of the rights, well-being and perspectives of persons with disabilities in development efforts at national, regional and international levels[4]. Disabled people’s organizations and their allies are working to ensure that international development becomes more inclusive of the voices and needs of persons with disabilities.

Disability is a human rights issue because, even though persons with disabilities have the same human rights as other populations, historic disadvantages, and discrimination present numerous barriers in realizing these on an equal basis. Harmful attitudes, myths, prejudices and stereotypes regarding disability reinforce and perpetuate disability discrimination, and persons with disabilities, in all regions of the world, face a range of violations of their fundamental rights. These include, among many others, lack of equal access to public services and social protection, lack of access to justice and denial of the right to live independently in the community. The Convention does not create new rights for persons with disabilities. Rather, it applies human rights affirmed in earlier instruments in the context of disability, setting out measures to address more comprehensively the specific challenges facing persons with disabilities.

 

Ten Facts on Disability

According to WHO, persons with disabilities are the most marginalized groups in the world. They have poorer health outcomes, lower education achievements, less economic participation and higher rates of poverty than persons without disabilities. For WHO, these are the ten facts about persons with disabilities:

  1. Over a billion people live with some form of disability (about 15% of the world’s population)
  2. Disability disproportionately affects vulnerable populations. (lower income countries have a higher prevalence of disability than higher-income countries. Disability is more common among women, older people, children, and adults who are poor)
  3. People with disabilities often do not receive needed healthcare (half of disabled people cannot afford healthcare compared to one-third of people without disabilities. They are more than twice as likely to find healthcare providers’ skills inadequate. They are four times more likely to report being treated badly, and nearly three times more likely to be denied healthcare)
  4. Children with disabilities are less likely to attend school than non-disabled children. (Education completion gaps are found across all age groups in all settings, with higher gaps in poorer countries. E.g., the difference between the percentage of disabled children attending primary school and non-disabled children ranges from 10% in India to 60% in Indonesia)
  5. People with disabilities are more likely to be unemployed than non-disabled people. (global data: men with disabilities have lower employment rates (53%) than men without (65%); and women with disabilities have 20% employment rates compared to 30% employment rates of women without disabilities.
  6. People with disabilities are vulnerable to poverty (they have worse living conditions- insufficient food, poor housing, and lack of access to safe water and sanitation, than people without disabilities. People with disabilities are generally poorer than people without disabilities due to extra costs (health care, assistive devices, personal support).
  7. Rehabilitation helps to maximize functioning and support independence (In many countries rehabilitation services are inadequate. Data from four southern African countries found that 26-55% of people with disabilities received the medical rehabilitation they needed, and only 17-37% received the assistive devices they needed (wheelchairs, prostheses, hearing aids).
  8. People with disabilities can live and participate in the community. (40% of people with disabilities do not generally have their needs met for assistance with everyday activities. In the United States of America, 70% of adults rely on family members and friends for assistance with daily activities)
  9. Disabling barriers can be overcome (Governments can promote access to mainstream services; invest in specific programmes for people with disabilities; adopt a national strategy and plan of action; improve staff education; training and recruitment; provide adequate funding; increase public awareness and understanding on disability; strengthen research and data collection; and ensure the involvement of people with disabilities in implementing policies and programmes.
  10. The CRPD promotes, protects and ensures the human rights for all people with disabilities. (Many countries have signed and ratified the CRPD).

Source: WHO / 10 facts on disability. (www.who.int/features/factfiles/disability)

[1] Remarks of the Secretary-General to the United Nations General Assembly’s High Level Meeting on Disability and Development, 23 September 2013.

[2] World Health Organization and World Bank, World Report on Disability (Geneva, 2011). Estimate based on 2010 population.

[3]United Nations, Disability and the Millennium Development Goals: A Review of the MDG Process and Strategies for Inclusion of Disability Issues in MDG Efforts (2011); UN Enable, Mainstreaming Disability in the Development Agenda, available at: http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=1569

[4] General Assembly resolutions 63/150, 64/131 and 65/186.