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What progress has been made to operationalise the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD) framework to promote inclusive employment? - Evidence Brief

LAMBERT, Felix
May 2021

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Employment contributes to well-being and dignity. Additionally, it can break the vicious cycle of poverty and the resulting negative mental health. However, nearly two-thirds of persons with disabilities aged 15 years and over are unemployed in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The ratio of persons with disabilities in employment compared to the general population in employment is almost half. Furthermore, among people with disabilities who are employed, two-thirds continue to experience workplace barriers. Inequality and discrimination in employment deprive persons with disabilities of their rights. Goal 8 in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development explicitly calls for “promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.” The United Nations’ ‘Disability and Development’ report highlights the international frameworks relevant to optimize opportunities for persons with disabilities to participate in employment, to achieve Goal 8.  This brief will provide an overview of the available literature on LMICs’ efforts to promote inclusive employment underpinned by the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD) framework.

How can social protection responses to COVID-19 be made disability inclusive?

BANKS, Lena Morgon
HUNT, Xanthe
June 2020

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Question & problem

The COVID-19 pandemic and strategies essential for its containment are resulting in severe strains on economies, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). These impacts will be felt most by groups already in or at risk of poverty, including the estimated 1 billion people with disabilities globally. Interventions to address the short- and long-term economic effects of the pandemic are urgently needed. Some countries have begun implementing or announced plans for interventions addressing the economic impacts of COVID-19, such as food assistance, emergency cash transfers, unemployment assistance or expansions to existing social protection programmes. As these programmes are developed, it is important to consider the extent to which their design and delivery is inclusive of people with disabilities. Failure to adequately include people with disabilities in this process will lead to widening inequalities.

How do we ensure that social protection assistance initiatives work for people with disabilities?

HUNT, Xanthe
August 2019

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Question & problem

Social protection systems and other financial assistance, including cash transfers and integrated benefits packages, may be important ways to facilitate the inclusion of people with disabilities in services and society. There is limited information, however, with regards to their impact in low- and middle-income settings. To understand how these programs work, it is important to recognise that there are disability-targeted entitlements, but people with disabilities may also be eligible for mainstream programmes aimed at other targeted groups, such as people of a certain socio-economic status. This evidence note summarises what is known about challenges faced by both of these types of initiatives, as well as evidence-based recommendations to strengthen them.

Community-based rehabilitation for people with disabilities - Systematic review summary

Valentina Iemmi
Hannah Kuper
Karl Blanchett
March 2016

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There are an estimated one billion people with disabilities globally, corresponding to about 15 per cent of the world’s population (WHO 2011). Among them, 80 per cent of people with disabilities live in low- and middle-income countries. People with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments, which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others (UN 2008; WHO 2011). People with disabilities are often excluded from education, health, employment and other aspects of daily life, and are generally poorer. It is therefore widely argued that the Millennium Development Goals and the post-2015 targets cannot be achieved without integrating disability issues into the agenda. We conducted a systematic search for evidence on the effects of community-based rehabilitation (CBR) on health, education, livelihoods, social and empowerment outcomes. 

Community-based rehabilitation for people with disabilities, 3ie Systematic Review Summary 4, is a summary of the full review, Community-based rehabilitation for people with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review, which is available with all of its appendixes on the 3ie website. 

 

The economic costs of exclusion and gains of inclusion of people with disabilities : evidence from low and middle income countries

BANKS, Lena Morgon
POLACK, Sarah
2015

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This report, formed of two parts, provides robust empirical basis to support the theorized disability-poverty link. The first section presents a systematic review of the literature on the relationship between disability and economic poverty. The second section explores the economic consequences of the exclusion and inclusion of people with disabilities in the areas of education, employment and health. The key pathways through which these economic costs may arise are discussed and studies that have attempted to quantify the financial impacts are reviewed

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