Persons with Disabilities: the most marginalized
among the world's vulnerable

By Venus M. Ilagan
Chairperson, Disabled People's International
Asia-Pacific Region

I. Introduction

There are over 600 million persons with disabilities in the world today. An estimated 350 million of them (roughly sixty percent) are in the Asia-Pacific region. Approximately 70-80 percent of the region's disabled people live below poverty line, in the most deplorable conditions, isolated and excluded from their communities by barriers of policy, environment and attitude.

Persons with disabilities remain the single largest most disadvantaged group among so-called vulnerable groups in the world. Widespread poverty, excessive inequality and flagrant abuse of their human rights are the major stumbling blocks to their development as equal citizens of their countries.

Women and girls with disabilities are most excluded from society and also from mainstream gender equality programmes. Children and youth with disabilities face overwhelming barriers to participation in education and skills development trainings, among other activities.

These exclusions and unequal treatment result in worsening living conditions, degrading and inhuman treatment, lack of adequate housing, health care, education and employment, social ostracism and sometimes, even death.

While issues and needs of so-called other vulnerable groups such as children, women, the elderly, migrants, and others have received considerable improved treatment and more attention from most governments in the region in recent years, the issues and needs of disabled people have often ended up least recognized, generally un-acknowledged and in some cases, even deliberately ignored by authorities.

In most developing countries of the region, persons with disabilities are multiply handicapped by social, cultural and physical conditions. These conditions constitute barriers to their freedom of movement and access to full participation in society. The barriers also include the stigma of disability, poor understanding of the abilities and the aspirations of disabled persons, lack of rehabilitation and support services, and a negation of the rights of the disabled.

Despite increasing awareness on disability in the region in light of the UN-ESCAP's Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons (1993-2002), and some social and disability policy reforms achieved in a number of countries, disabled people continue to face daily violations of their human rights - including the right to a decent livelihood - the first step towards self-reliance and independence.

II. "Boom years" hardly included the disabled

While most of the so-called "tiger economies" registered remarkable economic growth at the height of the Asian "boom years", the gowth-oriented strategies of these countries generally did not take into account the need to provide social protection to the most marginalized sector of society - that of disabled persons. These growth-oriented development strategies failed to achieve an equitable social development to say the very least.

In view of their non-inclusion in whatever social protection put into place during the boom years, the disabled naturally suffered the most or were hit the hardest when the Asian economic bubble burst. They became much more marginalized and neglected and continued to suffer the consequencies of their governments' lack of foresight up to these days. Things have become even worst as a result of the unfortunate events of September the 11th in the United States which sent major shocks even to the most stable economies in the world.

III. Barriers to the inclusion of PWDs in development

1. Lack of data

The scarcity of data on disability has been one of the major barriers in the development of policy and measures to monitor and evaluate progress of disability-related efforts and initiatives in the different ESCAP-member countries and territories. While efforts have been taken to include disability in national census and survey activities, the data collected often do not reflect the full extent of disability prevalence.

2. No common definition of disability

For a long time, disability was viewed as a medical issue, particularly disability resulting from a disease or an injury. The social model for analyzing disability issues emphasized the lack of inclusion of disabled people in society and points out that this is not due to the disability, but more on the environment and the society.

3. Failure to recognize that disability has human rights dimension

Disability has social as well as health implications. There is an urgent need to understand and fully recognize that disability has human rights dimension and is often associated with social exlusion, increased exposure and vulnerability to poverty. Disability is the outcome of complex interactions between the functional limitations arising from a person's physical, intellectual or mental condition and the social and the physical environment. It has multiple dimensions and is far more than an individual health or mental problem. Unfortunately, most authorities do not or they refuse to recognize this fact. Disabled persons have not been specifically targeted by mainstream poverty alleviation programs in many developing countries of the Asian and Pacific region.

4. Lack of integrated approach to link prevention and rehabilitation with empowerment strategies

The significance of disability should be assessed as a key development issue, and its relation to poverty, human rights, and the achievement of internationally agreed development targets. It is imperative that development coperation should incorporate the rights and needs of people with disabilities into the mainstream of poverty reduction work and the achievement of human rights. Eliminating poverty is unlikely to be achieved unless the rights and needs of people with disabilities are taken into account.

5. Inacessible built environment

The provision of equal access to built environments is integral to the fulfillment of the global commitment to equalizing opportunities for disabled people. Architecture and design barriers generate direct economic cost to society by reducing the economic and social output of people with disabilities. They exacerbate the social isolation and economic dependency experienced by the disabled.

IV. Conclusion

As we approach to conclusion of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, there remains so much more to be done in the elusive bid to improve the lot lot of persons with disabilities in the region. The effort to improve their general well-being must not end with the conclusion of the decade.

The disabled should and must be included in mainstream development efforts. Their needs and requirements must not be addressed on a peace meal basis.

This can be achieved through more responsive policies and programmes - including the use of information and other technologies - and positive discrimination in the allocation of resources in favor of giving more special attention to the unique circumstances and requirements of disabled persons.

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References

1. ESCAP, Policy Considerations on Disability in the context of the AP Decade of Disabled Persons;

2. Disabled Peoples International: Commitment to an International Convention on the Rights of Disabled Persons;

3. ESCAP, "Prospects for Persons with Disabilities," Asia and the Pacific into the twenty-first Century;

4. Review of the Progress Made since 1995 in the Regional Implementation of Copenhagen Declaration and the Agenda for Action on Social Development in the ESCAP Region by Isagani R. Serrano, PRRM

5. The Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons: An NGO Perspective by V.M. Ilagan