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Interrogating the impact of scientific and technological development on disabled children in India and beyond

WOLBRING, Gregor
GHAI, Anita
2015

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Products of scientific and technological developments are emerging at an ever increasing speed whereby these developments impact the daily life of humans in numerous ways. We focus for this paper on two classes of emerging products; one being social robots and the other being products that are envisioned to increase the cognitive abilities of humans beyond the species-typical and their impact on aspects of childhood such as education and self-identity formation. We analyse the utility and impact of these two classes of products through the lens of the alternative report on India to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) Committee on the Rights of Children authored by the by National Disability Network of India and the lens of ability expectations. We posit that the discourses around these two classes of emerging products do not address the problems the alternative report raises, but could heighten the problems identified by the report. We believe the two classes of products highlight the need for ability expectation governance.

 

Disability and the Global South (DGS), 2015, Vol. 2 No. 2

Typhoon Haiyan one year on: Disability, poverty and participation in the Philippines

COBLEY, David
2015

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This article explores the relationship between disability, poverty and participation in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the Philippines on 8th November 2013, based on field research conducted at the time of Haiyan’s first anniversary. Fieldwork included interviews exploring disabled people’s experiences, their priorities and the challenges facing them in the year since Haiyan. The analysis, which draws on a three-level typology of participation and Sen’s (1999) capability perspective, concludes that disabled people have the potential to participate as active agents in disaster planning and recovery processes, both individually and collectively, at various levels. Furthermore, supporting disabled people to participate effectively, through flexible approaches, capacity building and the forging of pro-poor alliances, can reduce poverty in capability terms, as well as raising awareness of the largely untapped potential of disabled people to contribute to the shaping of more inclusive societies.

 

Disability and the Global South (DGS), 2015, Vol. 2 No. 3

ESCAP Guide on Disability Indicators for the Incheon Strategy

UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC (ESCAP) SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT DIVISION
December 2014

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The Incheon Strategy to “Make the Right Real” for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific provides the Asian and Pacific region, and the world, with the first set of regionally agreed disability-inclusive development goals. The Incheon Strategy goals cover a range of development areas from poverty reduction and employment to political participation, accessibility, social protection, education, gender equality, disaster risk reduction, data collection, CRPD ratification and international cooperation.

To ensure that the 10 goals are successfully met, the Strategy identifies 27 targets as well as 62 related indicators for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the 10 goals. These targets and indicators are essential for developing practical implementation strategies, ensuring success and identifying areas where significant challenges remain. Goal 8 of the Incheon Strategy accords particular priority to data collection, calling for improvement of the reliability and comparability of disability data across countries in the region. Member States, in target 8B, have specifically committed to establishing a baseline with reliable statistics by the midpoint of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities in 2017, as a source of tracking progress towards the achievement of the Incheon Goals.

The ESCAP Guide on Disability Indicators for the Incheon Strategy aims to guide data collection and generation by ESCAP member States through providing them with relevant methodologies and tools to construct and use the 62 indicators of the Incheon Strategy, in order to monitor the achievement of the 10 disability-inclusive development goals.

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