ACFID Disability-Inclusive Development

Human Rights and Quality of Life

What are rights and how do they shape quality of life?

Identifying human rights issues for people with disability

You have each been given a case study of a person with a disability. With a partner review

any rights issues the person may have or is likely to experience.

– What issues might arise at different stages of life?– What about gender? Different types of disability?

The Global Context

• 10% of people live with disability (UNDP 2006).

• People with disability constitute one of the largest and poorest groups among people living in poverty (Sarbib, 2005).

• Of the 600 million people with disability worldwide, 400 million live in the Asia Pacific region and it is estimated that 70-80% live below the poverty line making them one of the largest disadvantaged groups among the so-called vulnerable groups in the world (Ilagan 2002).

• The World Bank estimates that about 20% of the

poorest of the poor are people with disability (Elwan 1999, UNESCAP 2002).

• People with disability face a much higher risk of poverty, and in turn, the poor experience a higher risk of functional limitation and impairments.

• People with a disability are disproportionately poor, and poor people are disproportionately disabled (The World Bank 2007:2-3).

• Rates of poverty are significantly higher in households with a person with a disability (Work Bank 2007:1)

• The link between disability and poverty and social exclusion is direct and strong throughout the world (Quinn and Degener et al 2002, UNESCO)

• As many as 50% of disabilities are preventable and are directly linked to poverty (Raijmakers, 2005).

• Disability affects not only the individual, but their families and communities. The lives of 25% of the population in poorer regions of the world are believed to have been impacted by disability – this represents a significant burden on the potential of productive human capital (Raijmakers, 2005).

• 98% of children with a disability in developing countries are denied any formal education (Harris 2003:209, Yeo 2001, quoted in Rhodes 2005:26).

• 80% of PWD have not access to health care services (WHO 2006).

• 2% of PWD can access rehabilitation services, and 80% of needs can be meet in the community (Dutch Coalition on Disability and Development).

• The incidence of disability is increasing due to population growth, ageing, chronic conditions, malnutrition, injuries caused by war, landmines, violence, particularly domestic violence, AIDS, environmental degradation, road traffic accidents (Fifty-Eighth World Health Assembly 2005, WHO 2006).

• 80-90% of PWD of working age are unemployed (Commission for Social Development, 2008).

• Chronic disease is the leading cause of death and disability in the Pacific (Pacific Islands Forum 2007).

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Signed by virtually every country in the world and underpins the philosophy and mission of many development agencies

• But disability largely ignored when human rights are under scrutiny

• Denial of right to express themselves, to make choices and access services

• Physical and psychological discrimination

Human Rights

• The rights of PWD are the same as those of people without disability.

• We are all potentially people with disability• All people should have equal access to

opportunity and services, as a right, be they women, older people, PWD, or members of ethnic minorities

International Recognition of Disability Issues

• Serious attention only given to disability issues in 1980s: UN International Year of Disabled Persons (1981)

• Extended to International Decade of Disabled People (1981-1993)

• Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons (1993-2002).

The Standard Rules

• 1993 UN established Standard Rules on Equalisation of Opportunities for Disabled People

• No monitoring mechanism and governments not implementing the Rules

• DPOs argued for separate convention defining and protecting rights of PWD

Disability and Rights

• Human rights of PWD entered development arena in mid 1990s

• International development agencies began to direct attention to poorest groups

UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities

• First legally binding disability standards setting tool

• Social development tool and human rights treaty

• Defines civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and country obligations

• Monitoring committee

Biwako Millennium Framework for Action

• Drawn up at end of Asia and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons (1993-2002)

• Promotes an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society for PWDs in Asia and Pacific

• Guiding principle that PWD are ‘active agents and beneficiaries’

• BMF adopted by Pacific Island Forum leaders

Legislation is not enough!! Claiming Rights

• Despite national and international frameworks recognising and respecting rights of PWD, the challenge of PWD claiming their rights remains

• PWD continue to experience poor access to employment, health care, education and freedom to express choice

• How can this gap be addressed?

Human Rights - summary• Rights are universal (everyone has them)• Rights are indivisible (you can not enjoy some rights if others are

denied)• Every right has a corresponding responsibility• Rights are inalienable: you can’t buy or inherit them; we all have

them because we are human• We need to know what our rights (and responsibilities) are, in order

to claim them for ourselves and to respect those of other people• We have rights even when it seems we do not: even when they are

being denied or abused• Our perception of the importance of rights is based on our own

needs; we value some rights more than others depending on our own situation

Models of DisabilityCharity Model • Person with disability is not an agent of their own life but rather a

recipient of care, cure, and protection Medical ModelPerson with disability purely as someone with a part of the body or mind

which is not working and needs to be fixed or curedEconomic Model• Value based on productivity Social Model • People are disabled by society- aim is to remove barriers Human Rights Model • Persons with disabilities should have access to everything within their

society and community on an equal basis with others

Models of Disability

Charity Model • Person with disability is not an agent of their

own life but rather a recipient of care, cure, and protection

Charity, or religious model

In Kosovo, disability is traditionally interpreted according to religious beliefs: impairments are regarded as a

punishment from God for a sin committed by oneself or one’s family. Having a relative who has a disability is a

source of shame, often for the whole family. Disability can damage the marriage chances of siblings with disability, especially sisters. Consequently, some families keep their relatives with disability hidden from neighbours, visitors,

and even other family members. Some people with disability live out their existence, such as it is, isolated in

one room, at times even chained up.

Medical Model• Person with disability purely as someone with a part of the

body or mind which is not working and needs to be fixed or cured

– Disability reflecting consequences of impairment in terms of functional performance and activity by the individual

– Disabilities as disturbances at level of the person (WHO 1980:14)

The medical…just one dimension

One young woman from Kosovo described the sense of liberation that she felt when, after many failed

operations to lengthen one leg by 3cm to make it the same length as her other leg, she finally decided that this

was unimportant. She and her leg were fine as they were. She turned her back on medical interventions and got on with the rest of her life: she became a hairdresser and beautician, building up a fine reputation. During the pre-war years of political and economic crisis in Kosovo,

she supported her family from her own income.

Economic Model• Value based on productivity

“How can I eat when I do not earn an income?” (Pheap, a woman with disability in Cambodia)

Social Model • People are disabled by society- aim is to

remove barriers

Social model

‘When I adopted the social model as a lens through which to see my life, I realised it brought certain

responsibilities. No longer could I claim victim status at the mercy of the able-bodied community. I had

now found a way of dealing with societies treatment of me. I had a tool which enabled me to redefine my

experience. I now had a terminology and the language of oppressed people, which enabled me to

belong and struggle against society’s attitude towards me’ (Boylan, E. 1991).

Social Models

• Disability as discrimination resulting from negative social attitudes and cultural assumptions as well as environmental barriers

• Discrimination leading to economic and social exclusion.

Human Rights Model • Persons with disabilities should have access to

everything within their society and community on an equal basis with others

‘We cannot give the blind person sight. We can give the sighted person the ability to enable the

blind person to do what s/he wants.’

UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities

• “Disability results from the interaction between persons with impairments and

attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinders their full and effective participation in

society on an equal basis with others” (Preambular paragraph e)

Rights-based approach

• Recognises that PWD have the same rights as other citizens, although their entitlements may frequently be denied to them

• Needs of PWD no different from those of other people• Basic needs: Food, clean water, shelter, health care,

education, income• Psycho-social needs: friendships, reproductive rights,

equal access to services and inclusion in community• Political rights: to be able to organise, associate freely,

to be represented, to have legal and voting rights

• Fundamental needs: communication and mobility needs must be addressed first to ensure they are able to claim their other rights as equal citizens

Impairment and Exclusion

• Need to:– address an individual’s specific needs for physical

therapies and services resulting from their impairment, and

– measures to address social exclusion and discrimination.

• Taking a rights-based approach to disability means:– considering the ways in which PWD are currently being

excluded and denied their rights and– addressing these barriers.

Human Rights Approach to Disability Inclusion

• Awareness• Participation• Comprehensive Accessibility• Twin Track

Diversity of PWD

• UN Convention recognises the diversity of PWD:– Range of impairments and functional capacities– PWD live in a range of social, ethnic and religious

contexts– women with disability often experience double or

triple discrimination

Key Messages

• Disability issues include sensitive terminology: knowing the definition of disability and using context appropriate terms, is important to building working relationships with stakeholders and beneficiaries

• Disability is a human rights issue.

• PWD want rights not charity.

Summary Points

• International and regional frameworks exist to uphold the rights of people with disability.

• Disability is an issue which affects all aspects of daily life.

• A multi-sectorial, poverty reduction and community ownership approach to including PWD is recommended (WHO 2005:2).

Defining Disability

• Defined based on International Classification of Functioning (ICF)

• A person will be considered impaired when they identify as having:– Difficulty moving– Difficulty seeing– Difficulty hearing– Difficulty speaking– Difficulty communicating (other than hearing/speaking)– Difficulty thinking/intellectual functioning

Including disability at Oxfam Australia

• ANCP requirement (people with disability must be included in ANCP funded programs, disability disaggregated data must be collected, must report to AusAID on the results of disability inclusion)

• It is part of OAU’s mandate (a rights-based approach demands equal participation of all and non-discrimination) and commitment to working with the most vulnerable

• ACFID Code of Conduct

• AusAID (2008) Development for All policy

• It is an agency requirement: Inclusive disability program policy almost finalised

• Other mainstream ANGOs moving well in this area, and OAU is currently not compliant

• Globally, the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities has been ratified by the Australian government and now we need to act to fulfil our obligations

UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The Convention recognizes that: • that women and girls with disabilities are often at greater

risk, both within and outside the home of violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation,

• a gender perspective needs to be incorporated in all efforts

to promote the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms by persons with disabilities,

Key steps to disability mainstreaming

• Including people with disability is easy!!• Ask: where are the people with disability?• Think: how can we involve people with disability? Talk with

them and let them decide how they would like to be included• Create: awareness of disability

• Adapt: our systems to collect disaggregated data

Make our practice compliant and accessible to all!

Funding disability mainstreaming• Include: a budget line item for disability inclusion in each

project• Funding of disability inclusion would possibly cover:

– Awareness training for staff in the by Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs)

– Engaging DPOs to assist Oxfam to collect disability disaggregated data

– Accessibility costs – depending on the kind of project (i.e. sign language translators, making equipment accessible, making large print materials, using audio)

How to mainstream disability into Women’s Leadership

• South Africa: Mapping current work– Ask: Do our partners currently work with women

with disability (WWD)?– Is there a Disabled People’s Organisation here?– Think: What do you know about WWD in South

Africa?– Include: WWD stories, experiences, voices– Explore: What might transformational leadership

mean for WWD?

East Sepik: Literacy for Women’s Empowerment

• Ask: Are women with disability involved in the literacy program? Why/why not?

• Share: information about the program with WWD and their families – Invite a WWD to be on the program committee

• Adapt: physical spaces to make them accessible• Teach: inclusive education principles together

with the DPO

Oxfam Australia Sri Lanka program

• Sri Lanka Program’s Strategic Plan 2009-2013 prioritizes three thematic areas:– 1- food security and sustainable livelihoods– 2 – conflict mitigation, peace building and human

security– 3 – gender equality

Work within a rights-based approach that places strong emphasis on community empowerment advocacy and

networking and gender mainstreaming across the program

Country Context

• Civil war has affected the country since 1980s• Recently armed conflict has come to a halt but

underlying conflict dynamics continue• Now there are 250,000 internally displaced

people (IDPs) in the north• 150,000 long-term refugees in India• 100,000 Muslim IDPs awaiting resettlement

History

• OA began working in Sri Lanka in the 1970s• Throughout the 1980s program focused on

the thrift and credit cooperative sector• Micro-credit schemes as a tool in poverty

alleviation• Despite success in this area, strategy was not

reaching the ultra-poor

Reaching the poorest

• In the 1990s shift to an awareness raising and empowerment approach, targeting the poorest men and women

• Conflict affected areas were also included• Consistently aimed to maintain a clear RBA,

with emphasis on gender equality and increasing the contribution of women’s voices to decision-making processes

In the past decade….

• Programmatic partnerships have been with CBOs at grass roots level

• CBOs as representatives of the poorest and most marginalised communities

• Rural focus• Partnership with national level campaign

organisations working on issues relating to globalisation, poverty and the environment

Tsunami Response

• OAus built temporary shelters to house people left homeless

• Where possible affected men and women were trained to assist in the re-building, including training women as carpenters

Program change following the 2004 tsunami

• Some of the worst affected areas were where OAus partners have been working

• Program expanded from <$1m before the tsumani to an average of $5m each year by 2007

• Expansion into areas such as infrastructure and advocacy, transitional and permanent shelter, humanitarian and protection work with resumption of conflict in 2006

Biggest challenges…

• Sustainable resettlement amid complex land issues and persistent security issues

• Conflict has seen serious human rights abuses• Social welfare system under considerable strain • Diversion of resources to addressing conflict has

meant poverty alleviation is often overlooked • Reaching the poorest

Gender

• Sri Lankan women are under-represented at all levels of decision-making structures at all scales

• Despite impressive female literacy rates and good economic participation, women remain constrained by socio-cultural norms and practices

• War has greatly impacted upon women• Inequality is very high

Program Vision

Our vision is of a society which values and upholds gender equality, social justice and

ethnic harmony, and where the poorest women and men are empowered to claim and exercise

their rights

By working through and with partners, not directly implementing

Values

• Determining programs by the rights and needs of communities

• Ensuring maximum community consultation, participation and decision-making

• Ensuring equity in all our programs, combating discrimination on the grounds of gender, ethnicity, caste, colour, disability, religious adherence, and recognising the intrinsic worth and dignity of every person with whom we work

Food Security and Sustainable Livelihoods (EJ)

• Despite achieving middle income country status, high levels of inequality persist and many communities not benefitted from growth

• Communities have poor access to land and capital

• Little voice and participation in economic and political processes

• Conflict, climate change and disasters• Poor food security

Objectives

• Poorest and most marginalised women and men will have increased food security, wage and trading income, access to land rights and state entitlements, reduced production and living costs

Approach

• Promotion of home gardening and sustainable agricultural practices inducing system of rice intensification (SRI)– How are PWD currently engaging in gardening and

agriculture?– What barriers are they facing?– Raised garden beds– Supportive devices eg sickle prosthetics– Loans for seeds/other inputs– Information sharing, inclusion in trainings ect– Positive role models demonstrating capacity

• Working with community groups on micro and small enterprises, increasing their access to markets and strengthening community marketing– Access assessment at markets and on local transport– Information sharing in appropriate formats– Invite PWD to participate– Engage with DPO– Identify market niches for PWD– Provide psycho-social support, confidence building as

part of loans

• Using revolving funds for sustainable income-generation activities– Identify current attitudes to PWD in business– Use positive role models to raise awareness– Build confidence of people with disability and in

the capacity of those with disability

• Advocacy, campaigning and networking to increase access to government services, secure land and labour rights and access to resources– Cross-sector approach taking disability out of health– Awareness raising and training government staff– Provide practical tools to show how to include

disability in different sectors– Document evidence of current situation of PWD

• Developing skills for partners and community members– Appropriate vulnerability assessment that includes

disability– Explore current attitudes to disability– Explore appropriate technologies for inclusion

Gender Equality

• Gender equality as a fundamental human right

• Its absence leads directly to poverty and other injustices (material poverty, vulnerability to violence, lack of voice in family and community)

Objectives

• More women will have greater access to and decision making power over resources– Control over all aspects of their lives– Measureable reduction in level of violence in

family and beyond– Chance to actively participate and take leadership

at all levels to achieve

Approach• Awareness raising and training of women and men on gender

issues– Nuanced approach to gender (disability/ethnicity)– Integrate disability into gender training

• Promoting strategies to reduce violence against women and children– Identify specific vulnerabilities of WWD– Accessability assessment of any available services– Raise awareness of disability in health services– Provide appropriate information– Income generation activities– Carers support programs

• Building solidarity that supports women to take action to claim their rights– Link with DPOs– Positive role models– What would be supportive for WWD?

• Engaging men to skill them up to become advocates for women’s rights, particularly GBV

• Supporting women’s participation, decision-making and leadership in the community

• Focusing on access and control of resources and increasing value of women’s labour

• Focusing on reproductive health and women’s control over their bodies– What specific issues are WWD facing?– Sterilisation? Forced abortion? Rape?

• Networking and advocacy, particularly seeking justice beyond the community

• Promoting research and analysis• Promoting gender mainstreamining as a cross-

cutting goal in the organisation and throughout all programs

Conflict mitigation, peace building and human security (RIC, ES)

• Conflict as a large obstacle to development, primary driver of poverty and vulnerability

• Conflict particularly impacts women and marginalised groups

• Tsumani and other natural disasters also affect human security

Objectives (1)

• Communities affected by conflict will be empowered to promote inter-ethnic understanding, address and reduce causes of conflict and abuses arising from it, and gain greater accountability from all actors of human rights violations through increased community capacity to express and demand rights

Objectives (2)

• The immediate impact of disasters will be minimised through improved capacity for communities, partners and OAus to mount rapid, effective and rights-focused emergency relief response and resettlement programs

Approach

• Promoting inter-ethnic harmony by working with different ethnic communities through language learning, exposure visits, creating spaces for dialogue

• Addressing protection and rights issues of women, men and children, including establishing and supporting community-based networks

• Conducting humanitarian responses and community-based DRR which will include fast, flexible and accountable relief, community mobilisation and strengthening for humanitarian response

• Awareness raising on IDP rights and entitlements, capacity and vulnerability mapping, networking for advocacy work

Cross-cutting approaches

• Community empowerment– OAus will work to increase the number and

strength of rights-focused organisations working with the poorest

– To mobilise and give voice– Claiming rights

• Advocacy and networking– Work to ensure communities, partners and OA

achieve progress in networking, alliance building and advocacy

– Strengthen alliances across country and in number of successful pro-poor, pro-women and pro-marginalised changes at all scales

– Equip partners with information about obligations of duty bearers and entitlements of rights holders as found in national and international law

• Gender mainstreaming– Develop and implement gender sensitive policies

and support partners to do the same– Create an enabling environment where men and

women work on basis of gender equality and respect

– Provide gender training to all staff– Ensure job descriptions gender sensitive– Establish gender sensitive grievance mechanisms– Move toward gender balancing staff