A life of dignity for all: accelerating progress towards the Millennium
Development Goals and advancing the United Nations development
agenda beyond 2015
Report of the Secretary-General dated 26th July 2013
Response of Disabled People’s International (DPI)
I.
INTRODUCTION
Disabled People’s International (DPI) is the largest network of Disabled
People’s Organizations (DPOs) in the world with members in over 130
countries. It has been actively participating and contributing to the
discussions on MDGs and the Post 2015 development agenda. DPI has
gone through the Secretary General’s Report and reviewed it vis-à-vis
disability.
The Secretary General’s Report includes assessment/taking stock of
MDGs; highlights the best practices and the measures being taken to
accelerate the work to achieve the targets by 2015. It also provides a
vision for Post 2015 development agenda.
According to the Secretary General, there has been “remarkable progress”
with respect to achieving the targets of MDGs. “Many countries —
including some of the poorest — have aligned their policies and resources
with the Goals to make unparalleled gains. Several critical targets have
already been met or will be met by the end of 2015, both at the
aggregate level and in individual countries.” However, he has also stated
that, “progress has been insufficient and highly uneven. Rural areas and
marginalized groups continue to lag behind on virtually all goals and
targets. Countries in or emerging from conflict, disaster or instability face
significant challenges.” The Report does not include specific goals.
However, it provides pointers for setting the goals for the Post 2015
development agenda.
DPI’s Response highlights the areas of SG’s report that has covered
disability. It also provides an analysis of what more could have been
included. In concludes by providing recommendations for effective
inclusion of disability in accelerating programmes of MDGs and the Post
2015 development agenda.
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II.
EXCERPTS FROM THE REPORT
We have listed below the text/statements from the Report where disability
has been explicitly mentioned or included as part of marginalized groups
or those which seemed relevant. (The full text of the Report can be
accessed
at
http://post2015.org/2013/08/16/report-of-the-secretarygeneral-a-life-of-dignity-for-all/). The serial numbers mentioned below
correspond to the paragraph number of the Report.
6. Far too many people face serious deprivation in health and education,
with progress hampered by significant inequality related to income,
gender, ethnicity, disability, age and location.
21. However, progress has been insufficient and highly uneven. Rural
areas and marginalized groups continue to lag behind on virtually all
goals and targets.
25. Much stronger efforts are needed to improve the quality of education
and provide lifelong learning opportunities, especially for girls and women,
those belonging to ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities and
children living in conflict-affected areas, rural areas or urban slums.
55. Together, we need to focus on those Goals that are most off-track and
on countries that face particular development challenges, including the
least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, small island
developing States and countries affected by or recovering from conflicts or
disasters. In so doing, we must pay particular attention to the needs and
rights of the most vulnerable and excluded, such as women, children, the
elderly, indigenous people, refugees and displaced families, as well as
people with disabilities and those living in poor rural areas and urban
slums.
87. Improve health. Address universal health-care coverage, access
and affordability; end preventable maternal and child deaths; realize
women’s reproductive health and rights; increase immunization coverage;
eradicate malaria and realize the vision of a future free of AIDS and
tuberculosis; reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases, including
mental illness, and road accidents; and promote healthy behaviours,
including those related to water, sanitation and hygiene.
90. Promote inclusive and sustainable growth and decent employment.
This can be achieved by economic diversification, financial inclusion,
efficient infrastructure, productivity gains, trade, sustainable energy,
relevant education and skills training. Labour market policies should focus
in particular on young people, women and people with disabilities.
91. End hunger and malnutrition. Addressing hunger, malnutrition,
stunting and food insecurity in a world experiencing rapid population
growth will require a combination of stable and adequate incomes for all,
improvements in agricultural productivity and sustainability, child and
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maternal care
populations.
and
strengthened
social
protection
for
vulnerable
92. Countries with an ageing population need policy responses to support
the elderly so as to remove barriers to their full participation in society
while protecting their rights and dignity.
95. Legal empowerment, access to justice and an independent judiciary
and universal legal identification can also be critical for gaining access
to public services.
106. The availability of information has improved during the
implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. Still, there is an
urgent need to further improve data collection, dissemination and
analysis. Better baseline data and statistics are needed, especially
because the post-2015 development agenda will involve
measuring a broader range of indicators, requiring new and
disaggregated data to capture gaps within and between
population groups. Assessing the quality of outcomes should also
feature more prominently in a results-based framework. As suggested by
my High-level Panel, targets will be considered to have been achieved
only if they are met for all relevant income and social groups.
111. Goals and targets should take into account cross-cutting issues such
as gender, disability, age and other factors leading to inequality, human
rights, demographics, migration and partnerships. The new goals should
embrace the emphasis on human well-being and include the use of
metrics that go beyond standard income measures, such as surveys of
subjective well-being and happiness, as introduced by many countries and
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
114. The General Assembly could launch the final phase of the
intergovernmental consultations on a post-2015 development agenda at
its sixty-ninth session. Those consultations could draw on the outcomes of
several intergovernmental events, including the high-level meeting on
disability and development…
116. I call upon Member States to adopt a universal post-2015
development agenda, with sustainable development at its core. Poverty
eradication, inclusive growth targeting inequality...
120. In so doing we must continue to listen to and involve the peoples
of the world. We have heard their calls for peace and justice, eradicating
poverty,
realizing
rights,
eliminating
inequality,
enhancing
accountability and preserving our planet. The world’s nations must unite
behind a common programme to act on those aspirations. No one must
be left behind. We must continue to build a future of justice and
hope, a life of dignity for all.
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III. ANALYSIS OF THE REPORT VIS-À-VIS
DISABILITY
Given below are some of our observations with respect to disability, after
going through the Report:
1.
There is a general admission that marginalized groups have been left
behind on virtually all goals and targets of MDGs.
2.
Disability has been mentioned at some places in this Report,
particularly with respect to Post 2015 Agenda, where it has been
clubbed with various other marginalized groups. It states, “Goals and
targets should take into account cross-cutting issues such as gender,
disability, age and other factors leading to inequality, human rights,
demographics, migration and partnerships.”
3.
It is mentioned in the Report that outcomes that would emerge from
the High-level meeting on disability and development to be held in
September, 2013 would be considered in the formulation of the Post
2015 agenda.
4.
It mentions “universal health-care coverage, access and
affordability” of health services. The High-Level Panel (HLP) Report
had not particularly emphasized on universal coverage or access or
affordability of health services in their list of indicative goals and
targets.
5.
Tackling inequality was not mentioned as a specific goal in the HLP
Report. However, it has been mentioned specifically in this Report.
Under the Section “Vision and transformative actions of the agenda”,
one of the points is “Tackle exclusion and inequality”. It states, “In
order to leave no one behind and bring everyone forward, actions are
needed to promote equality of opportunity. This implies inclusive
economies in which men and women have access to decent
employment, legal identification, financial services, infrastructure
and social protection, as well as societies where all people can
contribute and participate in national and local governance.”
However, it does not explicitly mention disability.
6.
There is a mention about mental illness. It states, “reduce the
burden of non-communicable diseases, including mental illness”. It is
seeing mental illness only as a disease and the focus seems to be
more towards prevention rather than rehabilitation or building a
supportive society.
7.
There are a few other general points in the Report which seem
crucial and relevant to disability. They are: Emphasis on baseline
data and statistics and disaggregated data to capture gaps within
and between population groups. There is a mention about “legal
empowerment, access to justice and an independent judiciary and
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universal legal identification”. These would be critical for gaining
access to public services.
8.
Many issues (strategies/challenges) and recommendations given in
the previous Reports of the Secretary General1 on inclusion of
disability in MDGs and Post 2015 development agenda have not been
incorporated in this Report, for example, the very important issues of
accessibility, capacity building, having focal points as monitoring
mechanisms for disability.
IV. RECOMMENDATIONS
1.
There seems to be a lot of focus on accelerating the progress for
achieving MDGs. The UN could launch a focused campaign to include
disability in the acceleration campaigns (more than 800 days would
be left as on 23rd September 20132 for the completion of the MDG
period). This could help in getting the various nations to develop
action plans, collect baseline data, report on progress and to identify
challenges/bottlenecks with respect to disability as a cross cutting
aspect of MDGs.
2.
It is already mentioned that the outcomes of the High-level meeting
on disability and development will be taken into account. Hence,
effective participation from the disability sector is crucial. Specific
recommendations regarding what people with disabilities want from
the Post 2015 development agenda should be formulated and
incorporated in the ‘outcome document’ of the meeting.
3.
The UN could initiate discussions and work on gathering
disaggregated data (including qualitative data) on various cross
cutting issues, as part of acceleration campaigns of MDGs and as
preparatory work for developing the Post 2015 development agenda.
4.
Last but not the least, persons with disabilities should be actively
involved in the process of formulating the Post 2015 development
agenda, as part of panels/committees/working groups.
Report No. A/67/211- Realization of the Millennium Development Goals and
internationally agreed development goals for persons with disabilities: a
disability-inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond, dated 30th
July 2012, and No. A/68/95 - The way forward: a disability-inclusive development
agenda towards 2015 and beyond, dated 14th June, 2013
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High-level meeting on disability and development
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