Disability and Development:
According to the United Nations (UN), about 10 per cent of the world's population have a disability, while the World Bank (WB) estimates that one fifth of the world's poorest people have a disability. As such, not only do people with disabilities experience disproportionately high rates of poverty, but being poor increases the likelihood of disability. Those living in chronic poverty often have limited access to land, healthcare, nutritious food, shelter, education and employment. Furthermore, people in chronic poverty often live and work in hazardous conditions. All of these factors can predispose to disability.
It is not the disability per se creating poverty and dependency in people with disabilities, but their exclusion from mainstream social, economic and political opportunities. Persons with disabilities require more human and financial resources from their families and communities to support daily needs and activities, such as mobility, communication, medicines, transport to school or technical devices. Besides the direct cost related to his or her impairment, persons with disabilities are often unable to go to school, contribute to the livelihood of the family or interact with their communities. The burden of a disabled family member is borne by the whole family.
Communities and governments have felt little or no responsibility to deal with the challenges faced by people with disabilities and their families. Therefore disability is rarely seen as a matter of public policy and duty. In the majority of cases in developing countries, when services for people with disabilities do exist, they are funded by a small segment of the NGO donor community.
A review of the literature on the relationship between poverty and disability reveals the following facts:
- Persons with disabilities comprise 20% of the 'poorest of the poor' in the world (WB)
- At least 70% of persons with disabilities live in developing regions (UN)
- Only 2% of persons with disabilites have access to rehabilitation and appropriate basic services (UNHCHR)
- Only 1-2% of children with disabilities in developing countries receive education (UN)
- Mortality of children with disabilities can be as high as 80% even in countries where overall under-five mortality is below 20% (UK DFID)
- Persons with disabilities are extremely vulnerable in situations of conflict (UK DFID)
- The special needs of persons with disabilities are often overlooked in relief operations (UK DFID)
- Over 30% of all impairments are caused by malnutrition and infectious diseases (UN)
- There are approximately 15,000-20,000 new landmine casualties each year, survivors of landmine explosions often have long term disabilities (ICBL)
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Disability and the Millennium Development Goals:
One of the specific goals for Canada's development cooperation policy and programs is to: deliver visible, durable impact on the world's key development challenges as identified in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The World Bank has stated that 'The Millennium Development Goals, a commitment for the international community to expand the vision of development can not be achieved without taking into consideration the needs of people with disabilities'.
The following highlights the relevance and importance of addressing disability to attain each of the MDGs:
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- Of the estimated over 600 million persons with disabilities worldwide (about 10% of the world's population), 70% live in developing countries, and according to UN statistics, 82% live below the poverty line. The World Bank estimates that persons with disabilities comprise about 20% of the poorest of the poor.
- As many as 50% of disabilities are preventable and directly linked to poverty.
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
- United Nations Centre for Human Rights estimates that only 2% of persons with disabilities have access to rehabilitation and appropriate basic services (access to these services is essential to enable children with disabilities to attend school).
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
- Women with disabilities are often doubly disadvantaged, through their status as women and as persons with disabilities, and hence represent one of the most marginalized groups in society.
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
- 1 in 10 children are born with, or acquire, a disability.
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
- As many as 20 million women a year suffer disability and long term complications as a result of pregnancy and childbirth, hence approximately every minute 30 women are injured or disabled from childbirth.
Goal 6: Combat HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases
- HIV/Aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis are the 1st, 6th and 9th leading causes of losses in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in high mortality countries respectively. DALYs are the number of healthy years of the life lost due to premature death and disability.
- The estimated annual global burden of malaria is 1.1 million deaths, 300-500 million cases, and 44 million DALYs. About 1 in 10 children suffer from neurological impairment after cerebral malaria, including epilepsy, learning disabilities and loss of coordination.
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
- Indicator: Proportion of population with access to improved water and sanitation
- Trachoma is a main cause of preventable blindness, with 4 million sufferers worldwide, and 6 million permanently blinded. Trachoma can be prevented with access to safe water for washing of face and hands, in addition to environmental sanitation including fly control.
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development
- The inclusion of persons with disabilities into mainstream services is important, along with specialized interventions where necessary, and would constitute a twin track approach to disability in all development activities.
For further information on disability and development please see the links to publications in the
Research page.
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