Policies and Mandates

The importance of data for the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of more disabled-inclusive policies is encapsulated in Article 31 of CRPD and in the 2030 Development Agenda in its call for disaggregation of indicators by disability status.

CRPD: Article 31[1] on statistics and data collection requires:

States Parties undertake to collect appropriate information, including statistical and research data, to enable them to formulate and implement policies to give effect to the present Convention.
The information collected in accordance with this article shall be disaggregated, as appropriate, and used to help assess the implementation of States Parties’ obligations under the present convention and to identify and address the barriers faced by persons with disabilities in exercising their rights.
States Parties shall assume responsibility for the dissemination of these statistics and ensure their accessibility to persons with disabilities and others.

Paragraph 48[2] of the 2030 Development Agenda Declaration states:

“Indicators are being developed to assist this work. Quality, accessible, timely and reliable disaggregated data will be needed to help with the measurement of progress and to ensure that no one is left behind. Such data is key to decision-making. Data and information from existing reporting mechanisms should be used where possible. We agree to intensify our efforts to strengthen statistical capacities in developing countries, particularly African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, small island developing States and middle-income countries. We are committed to developing broader measures of progress to complement gross domestic product (GDP). “

The SDG indicators should be disaggregated, where relevant, by income, sex, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location or other characteristics, in accordance with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics (General Assembly resolution 68/261).

Box 1. Why information on disability is required

The first meeting of the United Nations Statistical Commission’s Washington Group on Disability Statistics, witnessed participating countries being asked why they wanted to collect information on disability.

The reasons fell into three main categories:

Providing services;
Monitoring the functioning of the population;
Assessing the equality of opportunities for persons with and without disabilities.

[1] Article 31 can be accessed on the following link: https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/article-31-statistics-and-data-collection.html.

[2] Reference link: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld.