Disability-inclusive development

Promoting opportunities for all

Results 2011–2012

Australia's support enabled the Disability Rights Advocacy Fund to include Indonesia and Pacific island countries. In 2011, the Fund provided support to 111 disabled people’s organisations globally. This support contributed to disabled people’s organisations successfully advocating to the Indonesian Government for ratification in November 2011 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

In 2011, Australia's partnership with the Pacific Disability Forum helped 13 disabled people's organisations across nine Pacific Island countries to raise awareness about disability rights in the Pacific.

Our contribution to the International Committee of the Red Cross Special Fund for the Disabled provided assistance to 59 centres in 27 countries.

Our support contributed to the rehabilitation of more than 15,000 people with disability worldwide, including through the fitting of 19,560 assistive devices (7,456 prostheses and 12,104 orthoses). It also contributed to the distribution of 425 wheelchairs and 3,752 pairs of crutches to people with disability.

In Indonesia, 1,275 junior secondary schools were constructed with ramps and accessible toilets, leading to increased enrolment from children with disability.

In Samoa around 500 children with disability are receiving an education because of our support.

We are the first and largest donor ($2 million 2011–2012) to the UN Partnership to Promote the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This fund supports UN agencies at a country level to work directly with governments and civil society groups to promote the rights of people with disability in line with the CRPD.

Commitments 2012–2013

Increased financial support to the Disability Rights Advocacy Fund ($1.6 million to be paid in 2013). This will enable disabled people’s organisations to continue to advocate for ratification and implementation of the Convention and to support marginalised groups (e.g. women, youth and indigenous persons).

Strategic partnership developed with the Pacific Disability Forum to continue to support national disabled people’s organisations in the Pacific ($4.5 million 2012–2016).

Continued funding to the World Health Organization Partnership to enhance the quality of life of persons with disability globally, including to support the development of Community Based Rehabilitation services in Asia and the Pacific.

Continued support to UNICEF to enhance education and child protection systems, including through pilot activities in Vietnam and Bhutan.

We supported the Forum Disability Ministers Meeting in Papua New Guinea, October 2012. The meeting gathered Disability Ministers to discuss progress on the Pacific Regional Strategy on Disability, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Post 2015 UN Development Agenda.

Australian Development Research Awards scheme will focus on disability-inclusive development as one of its themes, offering research institutions access to up to $6 million over three years from 2012–2015.

Support for the UN Partnership to Promote the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will continue in 2012–2013. Australia is on the Policy Board of this fund and is actively encouraging other donors to participate.

See our key initiatives

Implementation

Disability-inclusive development is implemented across Australia's aid program.

See our key initiatives

Country and regional disability-inclusive development programs

Research overview

Since the launch of the strategy in late 2008, Australia has provided over $2.4m to support a range of disability specific research initiatives including:

• The 2008–2009 Australian Development Research Awards, including:
  • Economic costs of disability-related stigma in Vietnam: implications for disability-inclusive and poverty reduction policies
  • Improving access for people with disability through inclusive infrastructure development in rural and urban PNG
  • Triple Jeopardy: gender based violence, disability, rights violations and access to related services among women in Cambodia
  • An efficient means of measuring the effectiveness of development activities which target or include people with disabilities in Asia and the Pacific—testing a toolkit
  • Socio-cultural attitudes to disability in the Solomon Islands: Identifying culturally appropriate solutions to disadvantage
  • Analysis of the impact of international aid in rehabilitation in South East Asia with a focus on prosthetics and orthotics.
• AusAID call for Systematic Review
  • What are the impacts of measures to increase the accessibility to education for people with a disability across developed and developing countries and what is known about the cost effectiveness of different approaches?
• Research grants to the Pacific Disability Forum and the Centre for Social Development in Africa, University of Johannesburg
• Mapping of the disability policy and program frameworks in the Pacific
• 2011 World Bank–World Health Organisation World Report on Disability
• Development for All Companion Volume.

As part of AusAID’s Australian Development Research Awards in 2012–2013, we will fund research into disability related development.

More information on how AusAID funds research

Capacity Development for Effective and Efficient Disabled Person’s Organisations in Pacific Island Countries

The Pacific Disability Forum (PDF), in collaboration with its partner, Australia Pacific Islands Disability Support (APIDS), has recently completed an 18-month research project in 12 Pacific countries to develop a sound evidence base for efforts to support the capacity development of its members, disabled people's organisations (DPOs).

PDF and APIDS undertook research in each member country, focused on enabling member DPOs to:

• identify their existing capacity strengths
• reflect on and share what they know already about effective capacity development processes
• consider new ideas and ways of working to build their own capacity
• undertake plans to strengthen their own organisations' capacity
• be in a stronger position to negotiate with their own members and development partners about capacity development in future.

Individual country research reports have been prepared and they are available on the PDF and APID'S websites. A Pacific-wide research report is currently being reviewed by an expert Reference Group and will be launched at the next PDF Conference in Noumea in April 2013. AusAID funding for the research program over 18 months totals $282,167.

Visit the Pacific Disability Forum [external link] website for more information.

National study on the link between poverty and disability in South Africa

In South Africa, less than 1 per cent of all people employed are people with disability and people with disability are less likely to be able to access social protection mechanisms. There is a need to generate greater understanding of the link between poverty and disability so as to correctly influence policy decision-making to benefit all people living with a disability. The research aims to address this issue.

The research involves two phases:

• Analysing data collected through the National Income Dynamic Survey in order to understand disability in relation to poverty, class, gender and race in South Africa and to attempt to further establish the link between poverty and disability as well as the intervening variables.
• Original research in rural areas to understand challenges in accessing the disability grant and government services, as well as livelihood opportunities.

The research will generate statistically relevant data about disability and poverty at a national level, as well as in-depth information for both urban and rural locations.

AusAID funding for the research program from 2011 to 2013 totals $260,455.

Visit the University of Johannesburg [external link] website for more information.

Mapping of the disability policy and program frameworks in the Pacific

In 2011 AusAID supported the ‘Mapping of the disability policy and program frameworks in the Pacific’ to assist AusAID and partner countries to understand what might be done to improve the provision and access to disability-specific services so as to facilitate the participation of women, men and children with disability in social and economic life.

The purpose of the research is to provide a picture of the policy and resources context in the Pacific that may inform the strategies for improving access, provision and quality of disability-specific services and facilities in the region.

The data in the research report contributes to developing baseline information of what services and facilities exist and options for people with disability in accessing affordable and quality services and facilities. The report was undertaken in collaboration with the Pacific Disability Forum and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. This mapping report presents the findings of a study conducted over the period August–October 2011 and will inform AusAID’s ongoing programming in this area.

Improving access to and provision of disability services and facilities for people with disability in the Pacific—Mapping of the disability policy and program frameworks in the Pacific

WHO World Report on Disability

In 2011 AusAID supported the production of the first ever World Report on Disability [external link], launched by the World Health Organization and the World Bank in New York on 9 June 2011. The report assembles the best available evidence about the situation of people with disability and offers policy and practice recommendations for government and other stakeholders which can help overcome exclusion for people experiencing disability. The report also highlights Australia’s Development for All strategy as a best practice model of disability-inclusive development.