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Written evidence submitted by Leonard Cheshire Disability
6 January 2010
Leonard Cheshire Disability is a UK-based organisation that works in disability and development with local partner organisations in Africa, Asia and the Americas. Our inclusive education project in Zimbabwe supports up to 1,000 children with disabilities who would otherwise be denied an education to attend their local, mainstream schools. This involves facilitating teacher training to help meet all learners' needs, mobilising communities to identify and support excluded children, and building accessible classrooms and sanitation facilities. Our other main programme in Zimbabwe supports young people with disabilities to create awareness of the UNCPRD and campaign for its ratification and implementation.
This submission highlights the severe deprivation faced by many disabled people in Zimbabwe and the need for DFID to focus on fully inclusive approaches to eliminating poverty and meeting the Millennium Development Goals. Given the priority that DFID has placed on reaching vulnerable children in Zimbabwe, it is crucial that particular attention should be given to disabled children, as well as to disabled adults who are disproportionately vulnerable. This would include the provision of basic services, and support for livelihoods, training and education.
1 Introduction
1.1 Leonard Cheshire Disability welcomes the opportunity to submit evidence to the International Development Committee's inquiry into the assistance provided by DFID in Zimbabwe.
1.2 Working with disabled people, Leonard Cheshire Disability aims to deliver a truly inclusive approach to development and service provision within communities. We believe that the most effective way to fight exclusion from education and work, and its attendant poverty, is to provide targeted support that meets local and individual needs. Our particular expertise is in inclusive education, livelihoods, advocacy and campaigning. We also work with local partner organisations to deliver quality health and rehabilitation services. An evidence base for our policy work and programmes is provided through the Leonard Cheshire Disability Inclusive Development Centre, which is run jointly with University College London (UCL). Leonard Cheshire Disability and our partners work regularly with DFID both in the UK and in many of the developing countries in which we operate. This submission incorporates the informal views of our regional staff from Southern Africa.
2 Disability as an International Development Issue
2.1 In developing countries poverty is both a cause and an effect of disability. Disabled people tend to be concentrated in the poorest sections of society and it is impossible to separate the poverty of disabled people in developing countries from the wider picture of world poverty. According to the UN, 82% of disabled people living in developing countries live below the poverty line and approximately 90% of disabled children in developing countries are not in school. However, poverty is not simply about a lack of income and education but also a denial of fundamental freedoms and rights as well as the opportunity to develop as a human being and to be included in society.
2.2 Nonetheless, disability as an issue is often ignored and was not included in the targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In recognition of the fact that the MDGs will not be met by 2015 if people with disabilities are not included,[1] in December 2009 the United Nations General Assembly passed United Nations Resolution 64/131 Realizing the Millennium Development Goals for persons with disabilities.[2]
2.3 According to the World Bank and DFID, on average 20% of the population in developing countries have some form of disability.[3] Disabled people are less likely to complete primary education than their non-disabled counterparts,[4] which often leads to difficulty securing long-term, sustainable employment. This situation then both reinforces disabled people's marginalisation and exclusion and further compounds other people's negative perceptions of people with disabilities. The plight of women with disabilities is particularly precarious, as they are even more vulnerable than other women to harassment, sexual abuse and exploitation.[5]
2.4 In 2009 the UK ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). Article 32 of this Convention requires that all international development programmes are 'inclusive of and accessible to persons with disabilities'. Given the commitment that the UK Government has shown by ratifying this Convention, it is extremely important that DFID ensures that it is adhering to Article 32 of the Convention in its programme planning and implementation.
3 The Situation of Disabled People in Zimbabwe
3.1 Disabled people are among the most marginalised, socially excluded and poorest group in Zimbabwe.[6] It is estimated that there are 1.4 million disabled people in the country, but this could be higher because of increasing poverty levels, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other prevalent health conditions.
3.2 As in other countries, disabled people encounter multiple attitudinal, environmental and institutional barriers that militate against effective inclusion in society. It is a common perception within Zimbabwe that disabled people are passive and economically unproductive and, therefore, constitute a burden on society.
3.3 Disabled People's Organisations (DPOs) in Zimbabwe are at a nascent stage of development and lack sufficient organisational capacity to play a leading role in advocacy for disabled people's rights. Although Zimbabwe has enacted disability discrimination legislation, it has not developed the necessary administrative infrastructure for its effective implementation. Disabled people are entitled to receive disability grants, but these are not being allocated because of the country's current economic turmoil.[7] Zimbabwe has yet to sign the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. (UNCRPD)
4 DFID's Approach to Disability
4.1 Leonard Cheshire Disability welcomes the commitment DFID has shown towards the inclusion of disabled people in programme activities highlighted in the 'How to Note' on Disability of 2007.[8] We await developments in the implementation of this document.
4.2 Leonard Cheshire Disability would welcome the Committee's support in examining in more detail DFID's work to ensure that the rights of disabled people living in poverty have been considered in the planning and implementation of development and humanitarian aid programmes in Zimbabwe and elsewhere.
5 Inclusive Education as a Priority
5.1 Education is a fundamental and legal right for children throughout the world. The second Millennium Development Goal (MDG) calls for universal primary education for all children by 2015. This goal was also supported by the World Education Forum held in Dakar in 2000, which stated that Education for All[9] must take account of the needs of the disadvantaged, including those with special learning needs, and the Salamanca Statement and Framework of Action coming out of the World Conference on Special Needs Education in 1994. This has also now been enshrined in Article 24 of the newly adopted UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Still we see that children with disabilities are disproportionately excluded from education and we call for DFID to address this specifically in their Zimbabwe programme, where the need for action is urgent.
5.2 People with disabilities should be included in MDG monitoring mechanisms. For example when governments report to the United Nations on their delivery of MDG targets, they should disaggregate statistics for disability. In the case of MDG2 - universal primary school education - measurement tools must count how many children with disabilities are taking part in primary education.
5.3 Leonard Cheshire Disability has extensive experience of developing and successfully implementing inclusive education programmes. We are able to provide evidence of our highly successful programme in Oriang, Kenya and the education programme in Bangladesh that DFID supports, for example. If the Committee is interested in hearing more about these programmes and how they may be replicated in future DFID work in Zimbabwe, then please do not hesitate to contact us.
6 Issues Recommended for Consideration by the Committee
Leonard Cheshire Disability would welcome the Committee's assistance in learning more details about DFID's work in the following areas. We will also be available to provide information or support to the Committee should it decide to look into any of the issues brought up in this submission in more depth.
1. What analyses and baseline studies have been undertaken by DFID in Zimbabwe to assess the relative poverty of disabled people? Has there been an assessment of how effective DFID's programmes have been in reaching disabled people?
2. How has DFID ensured that the rights of disabled people living in poverty have been considered in the planning and implementation of their country strategy?
3. What steps has DFID taken to ensure its own compliance with the new UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities? In particular, what assessment has been made regarding current compliance with Article 32 on International Cooperation and what strategy is in place to achieve compliance? Leonard Cheshire Disability calls on DFID to refer explicitly to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in its programme in Zimbabwe and to audit existing programmes to measure social inclusion of people with disabilities.
4. How best can DFID support Zimbabwean civil society to advocate for signing and ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities?
5. What evidence can DFID provide to show that it is systematically ensuring all its education programmes include disabled children?
6. What can DFID do to encourage the inclusion of disability in disaggregation of data relating to MDG reporting?
7. How would DFID support a post-2015 development system that is genuinely inclusive?
[1] See www.IncludeEverybody.org, a web site illustrating how each of the MDGs is relevant to disabled people [2] http://www.un.org/ga/64/resolutions.shtml [3] How to Note on Disability (DFID 2007): http://www.DFID.gov.uk/Documents/publications/DisguideDFID.pdf [4]A Global Report on Education for All, Disability and Inclusion, Inclusion International and INICO, October 2009 [5]Groce N, Trasi R 2004. 'Rape of individuals with disability: AIDS and the folk belief of virgin cleansing.' The LANCET, Vol. 363:1663-1664, May 22 2004. [6] Lang,R., Chadowa,G. (2007), Disability Scoping Study in Zimbabwe. Harare: DFID Zimbabwe. [7] Lang,R., Chadowa,G. (2007), Disability Scoping Study in Zimbabwe. Harare: DFID Zimbabwe. [8] http://www.DFID.gov.uk/Documents/publications/DisguideDFID.pdf [9] By adopting the Dakar Framework for Action, Education for All: Meeting our Collective Commitments, the 1,100 participants of the Forum reaffirmed the vision of the World Declaration on Education for All adopted in Jomtien, Thailand in 1990. |