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Annotated bibliography: Disability and gender in low- and middle income countries (LMICs)

ROHWERDER, Brigitte
March 2020

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This annotated bibliography provides an overview and outlines key messages from a selected range of academic and practioner literature looking at gender and disability in low- and middle-income countries, which may help with planning for gender inclusion in programmes and projects. The papers included here are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all the relevant literature. A focus is placed literature looking at the main areas of work of the Disability Inclusive Development programme: stigma, livelihoods (which also applies to the Inclusion Works programme), education, and health, as well as humanitarian contexts. Literature which focuses solely on one of these areas has been included in the relevant sections, and those which address multiple areas are included in the first, overarching section on gender and disability. As is often the case, the literature on gender and disability in low- and middle-income countries has a tendency to focus mainly on the experiences of women and girls with disabilities. There is a lack of evidence relating to gender and disability in low- and middle-income countries, although more evidence is emerging as awareness of the importance of the issue grows.

 

People with disabilities face exclusion and discrimination on the grounds of both their gender and their disability, as well as other intersecting factors such as age, race, class or poverty. The intersectional nature of discrimination and inequality impacts all areas of life, from access to services, personal security, livelihoods and leisure, through to individual choice and autonomy. Women and girls with disabilities are more likely to face discrimination and exclusion than people without disabilities and compared with men and boys with disabilities. Their participation in education, livelihoods, and healthcare is challenges by barriers including stigma and cultural practices resulting in discrimination and prejudice, lack of accessible services, and lack of support from family, teachers and institutions - all of which are exacerbated by poverty. Women with disabilities are also at greater risk of physical, mental and sexual abuse and because of stigmatisation, have lower marriage prospects. Therefore, it is important to ensure the meaningful inclusion of women and men with disabilities in programming.

 

The annotated bibliography is broken down into;

1. Gender and disability in LMICs

2. Gender, disability, stigma, and violence

3. Gender, disability, employment and livelihoods

4. Gender, disability, and education

5. Gender, disability, and health

6. Gender, disability, and humanitarian response

7. Report information

 

The Inclusion Works programme (2018–2022), funded by the UK Department for International Development, aims to improve employment rates for people with disabilities in Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda. 

 

Disability Inclusive Development (DID), also funded by the UK Department for International Development, aims to improve the long-term well-being and inclusion of people with disabilities through increased equitable access to: Quality health services and health outcomes, Quality education and educational attainment, Jobs/self- employment and improved livelihoods and a reduction in negative stereotyping and discrimination in Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Jordan and Nepal.

 

The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the UK government or members of the Inclusion Works consortium.

Mainstreaming disability and making WASH programmes inclusive

ENFIELD, Sue
October 2018

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This rapid review synthesises evidence and literature on approaches that have worked in mainstreaming the disability agenda in WASH programming. It begins by exploring the overview of approaches to including disabled people in WASH programming and continues to discuss the barriers to access and consequences. In this section, there are specific and important WASH issues being emphasised including Menstural Hygiene Management (MHM), incontinence, Lymphatic Filariasis and Leprosy and high-density populations. Final section of the review discuss about practical guidance for inclusive WASH programming including the cost of inclusion that needs to be taken into consideration.

 

K4D helpdesk reports provide summaries of current research, evidence and lessons learned. This report was commissioned by the UK Department for International Development

Scaling up inclusive approaches for marginalised and vulnerable people. K4D emerging issues report

CARTER, Becky
JOSHI, Anu
REMME, Michelle
July 2018

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This rapid review summarises the evidence on how to scale up inclusive approaches to complex social change. It looks at how to design scalable inclusive change interventions, as well as how to plan and manage the scale-up process. Focusing on interventions with the aim of reaching the most marginalised and transform social norms, it covers programmes aiming to deliver inclusive outcomes for women and girls (with a particular focus on preventing violence against women and girls) and persons with disabilities. To date, many interventions seeking to change harmful gender and disability norms have been implemented as small-scale projects. There are limited experiences of scale-up and fewer evaluations of these experiences. However, there are some documented case studies as well as emerging analysis that draw out lessons learned. From this evidence base, this rapid desk review identifies eight critical issues commonly highlighted as important considerations when scaling up inclusive change interventions:

1. Opportunities for systemic approach, including integrating political and community-level scale-up, and coordinating across multiple sectors and stakeholders

2. Political support for scale-up

3. Strategic choices: balancing reach, speed, cost, quality, equity, and sustainability

4. Catalysing change: tipping points, diffusion effects, and local champions

5. Locally grounded, participatory, and adaptive approaches

6. Long-term approaches with funding models to match

7. Cost-effective and financially feasible scale-up strategies

8. Measuring impact and sustainability.

 

Scale-up pathways are discussed including: horizontal, vertical, functional and organisational.

A number of case studies are given.

Disability stigma in developing countries

ROHWERDER, Brigitte
May 2018

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This K4D helpdesk report, commissioned by UK DFID, answers the question "What are the core drivers behind stereotypes, prejudice (including pity/shame etc), and harmful practices against persons with disabilities in developing countries and what promising strategies/pathways for addressing these drivers have been identified?" using desk research.

 

Across the world stereotypes, prejudice, and stigma contribute to the discrimination and exclusion experienced by people with disabilities and their families in all aspects of their lives. This rapid review looks at available evidence on the drivers of disability stigma in developing countries, and promising strategies for addressing these. Most of the available evidence uncovered by this rapid review comes from Sub-Saharan Africa, and is from a mix of academic and grey literature. Evidence gaps remain. The available literature has focused more on studying the victims of stigmatisation than the stigmatisers. 

Disability inclusive humanitarian response

ROHWERDER, Brigitte
December 2017

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"Disasters and armed conflicts can also increase the number of persons with disabilities as people acquire new impairments and/or experience a deterioration in existing impairments from injuries and/or limited access to health care and rehabilitation. For instance, a survey of Syrian refugees living in camps in Jordan and Lebanon found that 22 per cent had an impairment. However, accurate numbers can be hard to calculate due to lack of data disaggregation in humanitarian emergencies and differences in the way disability is defined and measured, while families may be reluctant to disclose disability due to fear of stigma and isolation. As a result, humanitarian programmes may inadequately document and consider the needs of persons with disabilities"

This short Operational Practice Paper from the Humanitarian Learning Centre offers lessons for disability inclusion in humanitarian response. 

Including people with disabilities in emergency relief efforts

OOSTERHOFF, Pauline
KETT, Maria
November 2014

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This issue focuses on the inclusion of people with disabilities in emergency relief efforts and concludes that “more must be done to ensure the needs and rights of people with disabilities are fully recognised in disaster risk reduction and emergency responses. Accelerating progress will require inclusive humanitarian programming and the use of technological solutions to be effectively promoted and incentivised, and people with disabilities and their organisations to be involved from the outset in the design and implementation of policies and programmes”

IDS Rapid Response Briefing 8

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