Disability and the Policy Environment

Worldwide, persons with disabilities are confronted with barriers involving access to information and public administration systems, which prevent them from exercising their citizenship and political rights as non-disabled counterparts. The ESCWA region is no exception. A great deal of work is needed to provide the necessary buy-in and enabling legislation in order to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities and increase their access to information and opportunities. It is also unclear how disability-related policy is implemented and monitored, and how much civil society organizations are able to influence decision making and hold governments accountable for the implementation of disability-related legislation. The absence of a robust regulatory system is reinforced by the lack of evidence-based disability policies in the region. Despite the importance of collecting statistics on the size, type, prevalence and cause of disability, data are still incomplete or missing from national development plans and statistical databases.