Towards disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 World

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

Ranjan K Baruah

(With direct inputs from UN publication and feedback can be sent to bkranjan@gmail.com)

A barrier-free environment is needed for inclusive development but do we find barrier-free environments everywhere? Whether we believe or not but the fact is that the world population is over 7 billion people and more than one billion people, or approximately 15 per cent of the world's population, live with some form of disability; 80 per cent live in developing countries. We may not believe it as we don't see everything around us but we have to ask the question to ourselves why we don't see people with disabilities around us. The answer is straight and it is because of the barriers which have been created by us not by others.

A disability is a condition or function judged to be significantly impaired relative to the usual standard of an individual of their group. The term is often used to refer to individual functioning, including physical impairment, sensory impairment, cognitive impairment, intellectual impairment, mental illness, and various types of chronic disease. This usage has been described by some disabled people as being associated with a medical model of disability.

Persons with disabilities, "the world's largest minority", have generally poorer health, lower education achievements, fewer economic opportunities and higher rates of poverty than people without disabilities. This is largely due to the lack of services available to them (like information and communications technology (ICT), justice or transportation) and the many obstacles they face in their everyday lives.

There is no shadow of doubt that people with disabilities are at much higher risk of violence. Children with disabilities are almost four times more likely to experience violence than non-disabled children. Adults with some form or disability are 1.5 times more likely to be a victim of violence than those without a disability. Adults with mental health conditions are at nearly four times the risk of experiencing violence. Factors which place people with disabilities at higher risk of violence include stigma, discrimination, and ignorance about disability, as well as a lack of social support for those who care for them.

The annual observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons was proclaimed in 1992 by United Nations General Assembly resolution 47/3. It aims to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development, and to increase awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life. The day is observed on 3rd December.

The United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy provides the foundation for sustainable and transformative progress on disability inclusion through all pillars of the work of the United Nations. Through the Strategy, the United Nations system reaffirms that the full and complete realization of the human rights of all persons with disabilities is an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) recognizes that the existence of barriers constitutes a central component of disability. Under the Convention, disability is an evolving concept that "results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others."

The global crisis of COVID-19 is deepening pre-existing inequalities, exposing the extent of exclusion and highlighting that work on disability inclusion is imperative. People with disabilities—one billion people— are one of the most excluded groups in our society and are among the hardest hit in this crisis in terms of fatalities. It is another challenge as in normal situations people with disabilities are deprived of certain facilities so an integrated approach is required to ensure that persons with disabilities are not left behind during and at the time of post pandemic. Disability inclusion will result in a COVID-19 response and recovery that better serves everyone, more fully suppressing the virus, as well as building back better.

This year, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) falls on the same week as the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 30 November, 1 and 3 December, 2020 and will be observed throughout the week in conjunction with the 13th session of the Conference of States Parties to the CRPD.

It is very clear that persons with disabilities in the world are among the hardest hit by COVID-19. In the recent past it has been seen that when barriers to their inclusion are removed and persons with disabilities are empowered to participate fully in societal life, their entire community benefits. Barriers faced by persons with disabilities are, therefore, a detriment to society as a whole, and accessibility is necessary to achieve progress and development for all. It is most important for us to make sure that there are no barriers.