Other Potential Challenges for Arab Countries

Disability data and statistics

Data is at the center of informed policymaking, including for the implementation and monitoring of the Convention. Reliable disability statistics enable focal points and coordination mechanisms to identify priorities, needs and gaps in their implementation efforts, as well as to effectively monitor the impact of government policies and programmes. Disability statistics help monitoring frameworks to better understand the situation of persons with disabilities on the ground and identify potential breaches or violations of the Convention.

The availability of reliable and accurate disability statistics is improving in the Arab region. Data collection methodologies increasingly comply with the international standards set by the Washington Group on disability statistics short set of questions and are increasingly progressing towards including additional dimensions. .[1] However, definitions of disability still tend to be based on the medical model of disability, restricting the quality, comparability and accuracy of administrative data, which are the basis for devising policy interventions.  In recent data collection efforts in Jordan, Morocco and Yemen, surveys that used the Washington Group’s standardized questions yielded significantly higher disability prevalence as well as rich and detailed data on participation barriers for persons with disabilities.[2]A variant of the Washington Group’s questions was also used by Egypt, Iraq, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, and Tunisia. Morocco’s National Observatory of Human Development also represents a promising new framework for data collection in the region.

Several Arab countries are now revising their disability assessment and determination procedures towards better compliance international standards for disability assessment, such as the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)

These and other reforms are both needed and timely, not only for the implementation and monitoring of the CRPD but also for the achievement of the SDGs. In October 2019, UN ESCWA launched an Arab Disability Indicator Framework, that will allow for monitoring of disability across SDGs.[3] These developments will require that countries continue to work towards strengthening their national disability data, which will require substantial technical expertise, resources and cooperation.

ORGANIZATIONS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN THE ARAB REGION

As mentioned earlier, engagement with persons with disabilities and OPDs is both an obligation for States Parties under Article 33 and an important investment in effective and participatory policymaking. This principle has important connotations in the Arab region, where civil society engagement has undergone significant changes, especially over recent years.

OPD movements vary across the region. Several countries have large numbers of OPDs that have long been active on the policy front. This is especially the case in, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia, , as well as in Jordan and Egypt. In other Arab countries, movements are still in earlier stages of development, with more limited capacities and opportunities to participate in policy processes.[4]In many instances, OPDs have emerged as service providers to fill gaps left by the public sector. In other instances, national and international developments triggered the creation of new organizations. OPDs in Tunisia, for example, found new space to engage in policy issues following the country’s 2011 uprising, while Egypt witnessed a growth in its OPD movement in conjunction with the CRPD drafting process.[5]

As countries look to maintain and strengthen the participation of OPDs in policy processes, including in the context of their Article 33 obligations, some preliminary considerations should be taken into account. First, the States should adopt strategies to ensure wide representation of persons with disabilities in implementing the Convention. National OPD movements in the Arab world are diverse and heterogeneous, but some specific groups still tend to be underrepresented, such as persons with intellectual disabilities, women, rural dwellers and refugees with disabilities.[6]As such, focal points, coordination mechanisms and independent monitoring frameworks may need to establish multiple channels for engagement and design these channels in a way that reaches these traditionally marginalized groups. For example, organizing public consultations at different levels (e.g. in rural areas and refugee settlements) may increase the chances that a wider spectrum of persons with disabilities and OPDs are consulted and involved. States may also consider providing capacity-building and financial assistance to OPDs to better enable them to engage in policy and monitoring processes.

Second, OPDs may wish to explore opportunities for building and strengthening their own national federations or umbrella networks, which could significantly improve their collaboration with governments’ Article 33 frameworks.[7] Establishing or strengthening federations can also provide opportunities to reduce or address possible fragmentation within national OPD movements, and in turn contribute towards productive partnerships and engagement with CRPD implementation and monitoring processes. However, in exploring such options, it is essential to heed the point made in the previous paragraph that wide representation is needed from different groups of persons with disabilities in order to be truly effective and inclusive.