Leonard Cheshire Disability and Inclusive
Development Centre, University College London.
Working Paper Series: No. 22
Tales from an
Imaginary Country
I want to describe an imaginary country...
This country has a population of more than one billion people. That would make
it the 3rd most populated country in the world.
There is a lot wrong in our imaginary country…
The under-five mortality is reported to be as high as 80%1
UNESCO says that only 10% of children attend school2. UNDP reports
that the literacy rate for adults is lower still3.
The ILO measures unemployment at 80% in some areas4 .
The women in this country are at high risk of being beaten, raped and forcibly
sterilised5,6 and are unlikely to marry6.
The population has poor access to health care6, and often are
unable to see a doctor or to pay for even most basic of health
care. Children often go unimmunized7, women are frequently left
alone to give birth8
Many of the population are unable to vote and often political
participation is actively discouraged9
The population is disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of climate
change, living in areas at risk of temperature change and rising sea levels 10
The imaginary country certainly sounds as though it
would be the international development community’s top
priority.
But it isn’t!
This may be an imaginary country but these are not imaginary statistics.
They tell the real but under-recognised story of people with disabilities in developing countries.
The statistics quoted are not the product of an overheated imagination. They are official
figures from the United Nations and its agencies.
As soon as the stark reality is illustrated, the case for a special priority in development
programmes for people with disabilities becomes obvious. No other group with such statistical
evidence to show their absolute and relative disadvantage would suffer this lack of attention.
So, what is to be done?
Proper recognition of the priority owed to those who are the world’s most disadvantaged
should be established.
All development agencies should develop a strategy to guide their approach to the issues of
persons with disabilities, not just about the delivery of services but also the rights of people
with disabilities.
These rights are set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with
Disabilities (CRPD) to which all the major donor countries are signatories. Article 32 of the
CRPD specifically commits developed countries to ensure that their development programs
reflect the rights set out in the Convention.
But we shouldn’t need a Convention to tell us that the most disadvantaged should be a
focus of our attention.
All governments, donor agencies, non-governmental organisations and communities must take
action to include persons with disabilities in their policies, activities and programmes.
Otherwise this imaginary country will continue to receive too little attention, its citizens’ rights
will not be recognised and their opportunities will remain unfairly limited. And because the
population of this imaginary country makes up 15% of the world’s population, none of the
global development goals will be reached unless people with disabilities are included in global
development efforts.
Further reading
1.
Groce, N., Kett, M. (2013) Disability and Development Gap Working paper 21. London: Leonard Cheshire Disability and
Inclusive Development Centre.
2.
Groce, N., Kett, M., Lang, R., Trani, JF. (2011). Disability and Poverty: The Need for a More Nuanced Understanding of
Implications for Development Policy and Practice. Third World Quarterly. 32(8):1493-1513
3.
United Nations (2008) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. New York: UN.
4.
UNICEF (2013). State of the World’s Children. Children with Disabilities. New York: UNICEF.
5.
UNICEF (2013) Children and Young People with Disabilities: Fact Sheet. New York: UNICEF.
6.
WHO/World Bank (2011) World Report on Disability. Geneva: WHO.
Author
Bob McMullan is the Australian Executive Director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
He is a former Minister of the Australian Government, having held several portfolios over a twenty year career in
the Australian Parliament. Until early 2010 he was the Parliamentary Secretary for International Development
Assistance. He previously served as the Minister for Trade, Arts and Administrative Services. During 2010-11 Mr
McMullan was the Special Envoy of the Australian Government to a number of African countries, and he is an
Adjunct Professor in the Crawford School of Economics and Government at the Australian National University.
He was also a member of the High-level Advisory Group of the UN Secretary-General on Climate Change
Financing.
This paper was presented at University College London as part of the UCL Futures Global Disability Research
Seminar Series.
Leonard Cheshire Disability: International
With a deeply rooted network of over 200 Leonard Cheshire Global Alliance members in 54 countries,
Leonard Cheshire Disability is one of the world’s largest networks wholly dedicated to supporting
people with disabilities. Our international department works in Africa and Asia to support disabled children to get
an education, disabled adults to find employment, and all people with disabilities to access the healthcare and
rehabilitation support that they need. We campaign to put disability at the heart of development and support
young people with disabilities to campaign for their rights.
http://www.lcint.org/
Leonard Cheshire Disability and Inclusive Development Centre
The Leonard Cheshire Disability and Inclusive Development Centre is an academic research centre
uniquely dedicated to generating research about disability and poverty, based at University College
London. The research helps to improve the lives of people with disabilities, their families and
communities around the world.
The research centre provides an evidence base for Leonard Cheshire Disability’s international work. It also
provides expertise for UN agencies, national and international organisations, policy makers and NGOs. Centre
staff participate in academic networks, and share their research through presentations, publications and teaching.
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/lc-ccr/
References
1. Department for International Development (2000) Disability, poverty and development. London: DFID
2. UNESCO. 2007. EFA global monitoring report: EFA. Strong foundations: Early childhood care and education. Paris:
UNESCO.
3. Helander, E. (1999), Prejudice and Dignity - An Introduction to Community-Based Rehabilitation, United Nations
Development Programme, New York. First edition.
4. ILO, 2007. Facts on Disability in the World of Work. Geneva: ILO.
5. Mohapatra S, Mohanty M: Abuse and Activity Limitation: A study on domestic violence against disabled women in Orissa,
India. Swabhiman, Orissa. 2004
6. WHO/World Bank (2011). World Report on Disability. Geneva: WHO/World Bank
7. UNICEF (2013). State of the World’s Children. Children with Disabilities. New York: UNICEF.
8. Lancet, 2009. Disability Special Issue
9. UN Enable. UN Department of Social and Economic Affairs. New York: UN DESA. http://www.un.org/disabilities
10.GPDD (2009) The Impact of Climate Change on People with Disabilities. Washington: World Bank
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