Resources search

Global Disability Summit: One Year On – accountability report 2019

EQUAL INTERNATIONAL
September 2019

Expand view

This first accountability report, one year on from the Global Disability Summit 2018, presents independent analysis of the 171 sets of commitments made by governments and organisations at the Summit. It also sets out the results of a self-reporting survey completed by Summit participants, updating on progress made against their commitments so far.

 

The wider impact of the summit is discussed.

 

The results of the first GDS18 self-reporting survey demonstrate that significant progress has been made on implementation of the 968 Summit commitments. Work is reported to be underway on 74% of the commitments and 10% are reported as already completed, contributing towards an improved and increased visibility of disability inclusion within development and humanitarian action.

 

Appendix 2 gives country level case studies: Case study developed by Users and Survivors of Psychiatry Kenya; Case Study developed by the National Federation of the Disabled Nepal (NFDN); and Case Study developed by I Am a Human, Jordan

 

The missing billion - Access to health services for 1 billion people with disabilities

KUPER, Hannah
HEYDT, Phyllis
July 2019

Expand view

One billion people around the world live with disabilities. This report makes the case that they are being “left behind” in the global community’s work on health. This lack of access not only violates the rights of people with disabilities under international law, but UHC (Universal Health Care) and SDG 3 cannot be attained without better health services for the one billion people with disabilities. 

Health and healthcare are critical issues for people with disabilities. People with disabilities often need specialized medical care related to the underlying health condition or impairment (e.g., physiotherapy, hearing aids). They also need general healthcare services like anyone else (e.g., vaccinations, antenatal care). On average, those with disabilities are more vulnerable to poor health, because of their higher levels of poverty and exclusion, and through secondary conditions and co-morbidities. People with disabilities therefore may require higher levels of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment services. However, health services are often lower quality, not affordable, and inaccessible for people with disabilities. In many situations these barriers are even more significant for women with disabilities, compared to men with disabilities.

Leaving no-one behind: Building inclusive social protection systems for persons with disabilities

KIDD, Stephen
et al
February 2019

Expand view

How to make social protection systems and schemes more inclusive of persons with disabilities is examined. Social protection can play a key role in empowering persons with disabilities by addressing the additional costs they face, yet the majority of persons with disabilities are currently excluded from schemes.

The report identifies a wide range of barriers persons with disabilities experience in accessing social protection to be overcome. It calls for better data on disability, disability-specific and old age pension schemes and expanded coverage; adapting communications about social protection schemes; and improving disability assessment mechanisms. The research underpinning the report comprised involved a review of the literature, an analysis of household survey datasets, and consultations with key stakeholders and persons with disabilities in seven low- and middle-income countries: Brazil, India, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia.

Topics covered include:

  • Types of social protection schemes for persons with disabilities
  • Levels of investment in social protection for persons with disabilities
  • Coverage of persons with disabilities by social protection
  • Impacts of social protection on persons with disabilities
  • Barriers to accessing social protection and measures to address them
  • Links between social protection schemes and other public services

Realisation of sustainable development goals by, for and with persons with disabilities: UN flagship report on disability and development 2018

UNITED NATIONS DEPARTMENT FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS (UNDESA)
December 2018

Expand view

This report represents the first UN systemwide effort to examine disability and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the global level. The report reviews data, policies and programmes and identifies good practices; and uses the evidence it reviewed to outline recommended actions to promote the realization of the SDGs for persons with disabilities. Over 200 experts from UN agencies and International Financial Institutions, Member States and civil society, including research institutions and organizations of persons with disabilities, contributed to this report. The report covers new areas for which no global research was previously available, for example, the role of access to energy to enable persons with disabilities to use assistive technology. It also contains the first global compilation and analysis of internationally comparable data using the Washington Group on Disability Statistics short set of questions. Reviews of legislation from 193 UN Member States were conducted and analysed for this report to highlight good practices and to assess the current status of discriminatory laws on voting, election for office, right to marry and others

Measuring disability using the Washington Group questions

August 2018

Expand view

The Washington Group was set up by the United Nations Statistical Commission. It works with countries to produce better information about people with disabilities. The Washington Group has developed useful questions for countries to use to help find out whether a person has a disability, and to help collect data and information on what the differences are between people with disabilities and people without disabilities.

Counting disability: emerging consensus on the Washington Group questionnaire

GROCE, Nora
MONT, Daniel
2017

Expand view

The issuing of a statement by the Interagency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Indicators in Geneva, a group of leading UN agencies, civil society actors, and independent experts strongly supporting the Washington Group on Disability Statistics’ Short Set of Questions (WGSS) is noted and a short explanation of the questions is provided.

 

The Lancet Global Health VOLUME 5, ISSUE 7, PE649-E650, JULY 01, 2017

https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(17)30207-3

No One Left Behind: A review of social protection and disability at the World Bank

KARR, Valerie L
VAN EDEMA, Ashley
SIMS, Jacob
BRUSEGAARD, Callie
2017

Expand view

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development cites poverty eradication as both the ‘greatest global challenge’ and an ‘indispensable requirement’ for sustainable development (UN, 2015). Unfortunately, the path between discourse and practice is rarely clear. This is especially true for the estimated one billion people with disabilities around the globe who face barriers and challenges to inclusion in mainstream development efforts; and for whom disability-specific projects and interventions are far and few between. This paper responds to the lack of available data focused on tracking the inclusion of persons with disabilities in mainstream poverty reduction efforts. It reports on work by a multidisciplinary research team in developing and piloting a methodology measuring disability inclusive investments in the World Bank’s active portfolio. The paper focuses specifically on the World Bank’s social protection portfolio, aligned with SDG 1 (End Poverty), and outlines a methodology for analysing project-level documentation, using key word searches, and codes aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals to determine the inclusion of persons with disabilities. Findings indicate that only a small percentage, 5%, of the World Bank’s active social protection portfolio explicitly include persons with disabilities as target beneficiaries. It goes on to argue that this dearth in disability inclusive development efforts exposes a vital need to systematically include the needs of this population in the planning for, provision of, and assessment of development assistance efforts. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations for ensuring future projects are inclusive from program development and implementation through to assessment of outcomes.

 

Disability & the Global South (DGS), 2017, Vol. 4 No. 1

Washington Group presentation

LOEB, Mitchell
2015

Expand view

A brief history of the Washington Group on Disability Statistics and their development of standard questions for the collection of statistics on disability worldwide is presented. A short set of 6 questions was originally developed and an extended set of 30-35 was finalised in 2009. Two modules have been developed in partnership with UNICEF for children: one for 2-4 year olds and one for 5-17 year olds.  A module concerned with inclusive education has also been developed

Leave no one behind : the real bottom billion

BHATKAL, Tanvi
SAMMAN, Emma
STUART, Elizabeth
September 2015

Expand view

"This paper sets out why the ‘leave no one behind’ agenda should be a key priority (i) in implementing the SDGs in all countries and (ii) in assessing whether or not governments have met them. It underlines how deeply entrenched marginalisation is, how vulnerabilities often overlap to amplify multiple disadvantages, and just how little we know about some groups that are likely to be deprived"

Discussion papers on the theme of the high-level political forum on sustainable development, submitted by major groups and other stakeholders

UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
May 2015

Expand view

A compendium of papers from various stakeholders setting out “established and maintained effective coordination mechanisms” for the high-level discussions on sustainable development and the post-2015 development agenda

High-level political forum on sustainable development, Convened under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council, 26 June-8 July 2015

E/HLPF/2015/2

Cultural beliefs and practices that influence the type and nature of data collected on individuals with disability through national census

GROCE, Nora
March 2015

Expand view

Collection of data about disability in a census or survey context is influenced by the cultural context, particularly the beliefs and practices within the communities where the data are collected. Attitudes toward individuals with disability will influence what questions are asked, how such questions are framed, and how individuals in the community will respond to these questions. This article examines how culturally defined concepts of disability influence the development of questions on the topic, as well as helps determine who asks the questions and who answers the questions. These issues in turn influence how much data are collected and how accurate the data are. It also examines how ethnic diversity and poverty contribute to these questions. Recommendations for attention to these issues are made by census and survey.

The ScoPeO tool : measuring the impact of our interventions : quality of life, safety and social and family protection

HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL
2015

Expand view

This advocacy briefing paper presents information about Handicap International’s ScoPeO tool which is a data collection tool to help measure outcomes of development initiatives on the quality of life (QOL) of beneficiaries who have accessed our projects and those of our partners. This brief highlights the need to measure quality of life and provides an overview of how ScoPeO works along with a case study from Rwanda. It outlines how humanitarian and development actors can measure impact and suggests ways to measure progress

Advocacy briefing paper

Operationalizing the 2030 agenda : ways forward to improve monitoring and evaluation of disability inclusion

UNITED NATIONS DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL AFFIARS (UNDESA)
2015

Expand view

This note concerns monitoring and evaluation of disability and inclusion in light of the sustainable development goals. The note identifies steps which can be taken by individual countries and the international community as a whole to address the gaps in data disaggregation and collection concerning people with disabilities. The note concludes with a discussion of possible ways forward for better monitoring and evaluation for disability inclusion in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Disability action plan

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)
April 2014

Expand view

The Action Plan is based on the recommendations of the WHO and World Bank World report on disability and in line with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It was developed in consultation with Member States, United Nations organizations and national and international partners including organizations of people with disabilities.

The Action Plan has three objectives : to remove barriers and improve access to health services and programmes; to strengthen and extend rehabilitation, habilitation, assistive technology, assistance and support services, and community-based rehabilitation; to strengthen collection of relevant and internationally comparable data on disability and support research on disability and related services

Victim assistance factsheets

HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL
2014

Expand view

The factsheets were developed by Handicap International (HI) as a tool to provide concise information on what victim assistance (VA) is and on how to translate it into concrete actions that have the potential to improve the quality of life of mine/ERW victims and persons with disabilities. The factsheets target States Parties affected by mine/ERW, States Parties in a position to provide assistance, as well as organizations of survivors and other PwD, and other civil society - and international organizations.

 

This package consists of 12 factsheets. Six focus on a specific sector or public policy area that VA is an integral part of and the remaining six are dedicated to cross-cutting issues. With a view to promote synergies between different frameworks, each factsheet makes clear links with development sectors and issues.

 

The 12 topics include: Medical care, Rehabilitation, Psychological & psycho-social support, Education, Social inclusion, Economic inclusion, Gender, Empowerment, Accessibility & Access to services, Data collection, National Action Plans, Coordination, and International Cooperation and assistance

Sustaining human development : addressing NCDs and disability across the lifecourse

THE NCD ALLIANCE
et al
2013

Expand view

This report explores three interconnected global trends — a growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the rising prevalence of disability, and changing global population demographics (including rapidly ageing populations). The report highlights that there issues were collectively neglected as policy priorities during the era of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It stresses that the unique opportunity to ensure a future framework that fully integrates NCDs, that goals and targets drive progress for all people including persons with disabilities, and that a lifecourse and rights-based approach underpins all goals and targets to ensure no one is left behind

Making inclusion a reality in development organisations : a manual for advisors in disability mainstreaming

INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY AND DEVELOPMENT CONSORTIUM (IDDC)
Ed
2012

Expand view

This manual is specifically meant for trainers and advisors in disability mainstreaming that are involved in facilitating the organisational change process for inclusive development. This manual will helps readers to: acquire a basic overview of disability rights and statistics; create a personal vision on inclusive development; deliver the message of inclusive development to a sceptical audience; design strategies for disability mainstreaming in development organisations; become familiar with the wide array of existing tools on disability inclusion; and assess their own training and facilitation skill. The reader can select those chapters that are of most interest. Each chapter starts with the key objectives of that particular chapter, then discusses the content, poses some questions for discussion and finalises with references for further reading

Preterm-associated visual impairment and estimates of retinopathy of prematurity at regional and global levels for 2010

BLENCOWE, Hannah
LAWN, Joy E
GILBERT, Clare
December 2010

Expand view

This article presents the systematic reviews and meta-analyses undertaken to estimate the risk of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and subsequent visual impairment for surviving preterm babies by level of neonatal care, access to ROP screening, and treatment. A compartmental model was used to estimate ROP cases and numbers of visually impaired survivors.  The authors conclude that improved care, including oxygen delivery and monitoring, for preterm babies in all facility settings would reduce the number of babies affected with ROP. They recommend that improved data tracking and coverage of locally adapted screening/treatment programs are urgently required

Pediatr Res, Vol 74, Suppl 1

Hidden suffering : disabilities from pregnancy and childbirth in less developed countries

ASHFORD, Lori
2002

Expand view

"This document discusses disabilities resulting from pregnancy and childbirth in less developed countries. It describes the causes of maternal disabilities as well as some of the major disabilities that may result from pregnancy- and childbirth-related complications, and presents the impact on infant and child health, consequences for families and societies, interventions to improve maternal health and the benefits of interventions"

Pages

E-bulletin