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The purpose of this study was to examine the role and visibility of disabled people in the discourses of various global policy processes related to sustainable development and the Post-2015 development agenda. This article makes several recommendations for strengthening the role of disabled people in these discourses. The research addresses the question of how the disability community and sustainable development community relate to each other in these discourses. This study provides quantitative and qualitative data on three aspects of the relationship. One set of data highlights who is seen as a stakeholder in general and the visibility of disabled people in the social sustainability, sustainable consumption, Rio+20 and Post-2015 development agenda proposals discourses and what participants of the online consultation for a disability inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond had to say about the issues of visibility of disabled people in development discourses. A second set of data illuminates the attitudes towards disabled people evident in the SD discourses including through the eyes of the participant of the online consultation for a disability inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond. The final set of data compares the goals and actions seen as desirable for the advancement of SD evident in the SD literature covered and the online consultation for a disability inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond. This study interpreted the data through a disability studies lens. The study found that disabled people were barely visible to invisible in the SD literature covered, that the goals and actions proposed in the SD discourses are of high relevance to disabled people but that these discussions have generally not been explicitly linked to disabled people. It found further that disabled people have clear ideas why they are invisible, what the problems with development policies are and what needs to happen to rectify the problems. It found also that there was a lack of visibility of various SD areas and goals within the disability discourse. This paper provides empirical data that can be used to further the goal of mainstreaming of disabled people into the SD and Post-2015 development discourses as asked for in various high-level UN documents. However, we posit that the utility of our paper goes beyond the disability angle. Our quantitative data also highlights other forms of social group visibility unevenness in the literature and as such, we argue that the data we present in this paper is also of use for other stakeholders such as youth, women and indigenous people and also for NGOs and policy makers.

Sustainability, Vol 5

"This guide describes the Sustainability Analysis Process (SAP), a coordinated planning approach that aims to facilitate the development of a common vision of sustainability among various actors in a system. Specifically, it is a participatory process which outlines how to achieve consensus on a common vision, and how to define sustainability indicators that can be used to monitor progress towards this vision within the context of the national rehabilitation system. Ultimately, the SAP outlined in this guide is a practical tool that can help all actors in a system to understand the various components of sustainability and analyse the concept of sustainability in relation to their own system"

This community-led total sanitation (CLTS) blog outlines progress on CLTS in Kenya, noting the difference in approach in Ghana and Ethiopia, and highlights the new approaches taken by some disabled people, working towards the goal of making Kenya open defecation free (ODF)

This comparative study of Handicap International programmes in Albania, Kosovo and Mozam-bique analyses processes and approaches that have been used by Handicap International to enable access to quality rehabilitation services for people with disabilities, and specifically to look at their impact in terms of Sustainability
SD/RS 07

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the conditions needed for sustainable community based rehabilitation (CBR) programmes for persons with disabilities in Vietnam, and to identify the conditions and opportunities missing at present for the implementation of such programmes.

Method: Two CBR programmes in Vietnam, one medical based and one comprehensive (medical, educational, livelihood, social and empowerment), were evaluated for requirements and the current situation. Four factors were taken into account - human resources, organisational setting, social and political environment, and financing. Data were collected through interviews with programme managers and focus groups with stakeholders from provincial, district and communal levels, and with persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities also completed a questionnaire to evaluate their satisfaction with the programme and their involvement in it.

Results: The conditions needed for a sustainable CBR programme were identified: availability of human resources, training, monitoring and evaluation, collaboration, commitment and financing. The conditions missing at present were: a stable pool of human resources (in both programmes), collaboration between sectors and with local authorities (in the medical programme), and knowledge about how to maintain financing (in both programmes). Persons with disabilities were more satisfied with their involvement in the comprehensive programme than in the medical programme. Stakeholders proposed opportunities to increase sustainability; highest priority was given to a collaboration plan (comprehensive CBR programme) and to involvement of other sectors in the CBR Steering Committee (medical CBR programme).

Conclusions: Few differences were found in conditions needed for sustainability of the medical and comprehensive programmes. The existence of disabled persons’ organisations (DPOs) seemed to be associated with the level of satisfaction persons with disabilities felt with their involvement in the programme.

Limitations: The People’s Committee was not involved in this research, although their input was perceived to be important. Generalisation of the results of this study should be done with caution because health system structures and organisational levels of CBR differ.

This study examines over 20 years of CBR implementation in Nepal. It includes an overview of CBR interventions, provides analysis of approaches and activities in terms of impact and sustainability and makes recommendations for future developments in CBR. This resource is useful for people interested in CBR in Nepal

This paper discusses the first phase of a two-part study, which identified core elements of programmes through an examination of programme dynamics, activities, costs, and outputs in two countries. Based on this data, the first phase developed frameworks and eight checklists to use in assessing youth peer education effectiveness and sustainability