Oped»
MDGs for all
DEC 02 - In 1992, at the conclusion of the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons (1983-92), the General Assembly declared Dec. 3 as International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPwD). Each year, the UN announces a theme to promote the full and equal enjoyment of human rights and participation in society by persons with disabilities to celebrate this day. The theme for this year is “Making the MDGs (millennium development goals) inclusive: Empowerment of persons with disabilities and their communities around the world”.
According to the World Bank, 80 percent of the world’s people with disabilities live in the developing countries, making the worldwide disabled population collectively one of the poorest and most marginalized segments of society. The one overarching problem that persons with disabilities everywhere in the world face in common is prejudice: Negative attitudes that result in discrimination, whether direct or indirect. Combating the continuing stigma and discrimination is one of the most difficult and important tasks at hand for advocates of the rights of persons with disabilities.
The writer’s current research on the impact of education has found that the longer persons with disabilities continue their education, the greater the eventual benefit in terms of job status, job position and quality of life. Despite this finding, the prevailing belief in countries like Nepal is that even if persons with disabilities are educated, they will not be useful in the workforce. The findings of this study have clearly invalidated this misconception. If people have the proper opportunities, they will succeed and prosper. Unfortunately, despite the proof of positive results, persons with disabilities in the developing countries often miss out on the benefits of employment and social inclusion by not getting adequate access to education.
According to UNESCO, the number of children under the age of 18 with disabilities around the world is between 120 and 150 million, and more than 90 percent of them in the developing countries do not attend school. The difficulties associated with educating them are many: economic, social, attitudinal and physical. Often in daily life, these factors all work together, erecting a wall that not only blocks people from getting an education, but also deprives society as a whole of a better future.
In this alarming situation, celebrating IDPwD alone carries little importance to those with disabilities whose fundamental rights are not fully accepted. They are still struggling with poverty, prejudice and social stigma, directly reflected in their poor socio-economic status. Developing countries like ours, therefore, should build on the rhetoric of IDPwD with real commitments and the effective implementation of programmes with the objective of bringing persons with disabilities into the framework of inclusive development. They need to make consolidated efforts to improve the quality of life of this group. For this, the need of international cooperation has become more important than ever.
The vital role of international cooperation has been clearly acknowledged in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as well. Nepal, unfortunately, has not yet ratified this first human rights treaty of the 21st century. The country’s fractured political situation is partly to blame for this oversight, but it is clearly necessary that this convention be ratified as soon as possible. Along with its ratification, legislation should be developed to meet the letter and sprit of this convention, which is not only a human rights treaty but also a development tool. Meanwhile, the developed countries need to take a leading role in promoting peaceful development for all. In order for the developing countries to successfully achieve the MDGs, the developed countries have to follow through and provide the technical and financial support to which they previously committed. Their support can help effectively implement the MDGs, achieve inclusive development and combat the existing discrimination, much of which is aggravated by disabling environments and social stigma.
In creating a barrier-free society for persons with disabilities, for example, Japan is a leader. Considering Japan’s vast investment in infrastructure in the developing countries, it is surprising that they have overlooked bringing the kind of innovations that make their own country barrier-free to other nations as well. Commitments to support should not leave disability issues out of the discussion. To be able to act as agents for change, international development agencies should be more open to accepting disability and diversity within their own programmes and work harder to foster a positive understanding of disability issues. Looking at this year’s celebration of IDPwD, it becomes all the more apparent how important it is for countries to work both internationally and within their own societies for change.
This year, we are emphasizing the inclusiveness of the MDGs as a slogan to mark IDPwD. According to the UN, despite the commitments to mainstream persons with disabilities in all aspects of society and development, there is still a large gap between what governments say and what governments do. If these countries are seriously committed to achieving the MDGs, disability issues should be given an equal footing with the many other important challenges that are central to development goals. The MDGs mainly focus on issues such as reducing poverty, improving health and addressing educational and environmental concerns. In every one of these fields, there is equal relevance to disability issues.
Even in a progressive document like the MDGs, however, the importance of disability issues was initially overlooked. This startling oversight in a document that specifically addresses minority groups is evidence of the systematic marginalization of disability issues. Fortunately, the MDGs are currently being revised. At first, disability issues were again neglected in the new revised proposals for the MDGs. However, after serious concern was voiced by persons with disabilities and their organizations, the Third Committee has recently added a draft resolution entitled “Realizing the Millennium Development Goals for Persons with Disabilities”. This has, at last, explicitly brought disability issues to the attention of countries aiming to achieve the MDGs.
With this positive step, the writer does hope that disability issues will be taken seriously by all member countries of the UN henceforth in relation to MDG efforts. There will not be inclusive development or poverty reduction if a certain sector is left behind in the development agenda. There will also not be inclusive development if commitments to disability issues are voiced but not implemented. If the participation of persons with disabilities at all levels of policy making and development is made possible, only then can disability issues be practically addressed from a human rights approach.
Finally, it should be remembered that persons with disabilities are one of the most vulnerable groups in times of disaster, be it natural calamities or war. Each day, hundreds of people acquire impairments because of war and conflicts. But countries and communities remain short-sighted about the long-term effects of their destructive activities, and continue to engage in war and creation of nuclear weapons. It is high time we re-evaluated our goals and ourselves, and work to establish peace. With the revision of the MDGs, the developed countries and international development agencies have the opportunity to choose peace work and for visible and positive change in the livelihood of persons with disabilities. The writer urges them not to miss this opportunity.
(The author is a researcher of
disability issues and is currently with the University of Tokyo. He is the first Nepali with visual impairment to
complete a PhD)
kamal@bfp.rcast.u
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