Disability inclusion

"Nothing About Me Without Me" - An introduction to Disability Inclusive Development

Approximately one in seven people globally have disabilities (around one billion people) and they and their families are disproportionately affected by poverty. Disability inclusion is a cross-cutting priority for Australia's international engagement in development, humanitarian action and human rights. The International Development Policy commits Australia to advancing the rights of persons with disabilities and prioritising disability equity as a core issue for action in the international development program.

The Australian Government is developing a new International Disability Equity and Rights Strategy. The Strategy, to be launched in 2024, will ensure Australia remains a strong and consistent leader in advancing equity and rights for persons with disabilities globally.

A twin-track approach to disability-inclusive development includes a:

1. Mainstream approach – including people with disabilities as participants and beneficiaries of general development investments, particularly in sectors identified as key opportunities in Development for All 2015–2020.

2. Targeted approach – targeting people with disabilities in development initiatives designed specifically to benefit people with disabilities. Actively including people with disabilities in mainstream development efforts is necessary to ensure that broader systems, policies and services include and benefit people with disabilities. This cannot be fully realised without complementary targeted efforts to facilitate equality of access and participation for people with disabilities. For example, you can make a school’s infrastructure accessible, and train a teacher on disability inclusion (mainstream approach) but if a child is deaf or has a vision impairment these changes will not lead to equitable access without a sign language interpreter or provision of the necessary assistive technology (e.g. magnifier or screen reader) (targeted approach).

Resources:

Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade "Disability Inclusion in the DFAT Development Program - Good practice note" (2021)

CBM Inclusive Participation Toolbox

Disability Inclusive Development Resource "Introduction to disability and development"