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This case study builds a picture of the current state of inclusion and accessibility in the built environment and infrastructure in Solo, Indonesia, through engaging local stakeholders and communities and exploring the understanding of and potential for inclusive design to address some of the current barriers to inclusion.

Surakarta (known as Solo) is a city in Central Java, Indonesia, with a population of 557,606 people. The city has a strong history of inclusion, recognised as a great place for persons with disabilities in Indonesia to live. Solo city is a leader for inclusion in Indonesia, demonstrated through city regulations on disability inclusion that pre-date the ratification of the UNCRPD. There is great progress in implementing inclusive environments in Solo with numerous accessible infrastructures, but the city would benefit from a more holistic approach, support by a robust inclusive design strategy that integrates inclusion, sustainable and resilience to ensure long-term progress. One of the aspects that makes Solo unique is its strong community relationships, community-led approaches and leadership from the community is active and valued. This is also supported within urban governance, facilitating opportunities from grassroots leadership and inclusive participation for persons with disabilities.

The research identified that to create more inclusive environments, the physical infrastructure, planning and design is crucial, but equally important are the processes of inclusion and participation. Creating robust mechanisms of community participation and leadership is fundamental to ensure long term sustainable and continued progress to being a more inclusive city.

Across Indonesia, action towards inclusive cities is supported through the work of the Inclusive Mayor’s Network in Indonesia demonstrating country-wide leadership. The findings of this case study will serve Solo as a city but also have relevance for other cities across Indonesia and support the implementation of best practices found in Solo. 

This is the third of six case studies of the Inclusive Infrastructure programme analysing the state of accessibility and inclusive design in low-resource contexts around the world. 

Everyday barriers that Afghan women and girls with disabilities face are described.  Decades of conflict have decimated government institutions and development efforts have failed to reach many communities most in need. Obtaining access to health care, education, and employment, along with other basic rights, is particularly difficult for Afghan women and girls with disabilities, who face both gender discrimination and stigma and barriers associated with their disability.

This report is based primarily on research by Human Rights Watch researchers from April 2018 through January 2020 in Kabul, Mazar-e Sharif, and Herat, Afghanistan. 23 interviews with women with disabilities and 3 interviews with family members of women and girls with disabilities were conducted. 14 healthcare and education professionals were interviewed, including representatives from the United Nations and international and local nongovernmental organizations providing services to persons with disabilities in Afghanistan

This paper discusses issues affecting the transport and mobility needs of people with disabilities in middle- and low-income countries and how disability intersects with a range of other factors to impact on transport needs, use and engagement. The paper is intended to stimulate discussion and identify areas for further research, and identifies a number of key issues that are salient to discussions around equitable and inclusive transport provision, including patterns of transport use, behaviour and experiences, solutions and policy directions, measuring access and inclusion, policies and intersectionality. The paper also identifies gaps in knowledge and provision, barriers to addressing these gaps, and some possible solutions to overcoming these barriers. These include shifting the focus from access to inclusion, reconceptualising how ‘special’ transport might be provided, and most importantly listening to the voices and experiences of adults and children with disabilities. Despite lack of transport often being cited as a reason for lack of inclusion of people with disabilities, there is surprisingly little evidence which either quantifies this or translates what this lack of access means to people with disabilities in their daily lives in low- and middle-income countries.

Sustainability 2020, 12(2), 589

https://doi.org/10.3390/su12020589

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 is to ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’ and the targets and indicators for SDG 4 emphasise the importance of measuring outcomes for children with disabilities (United Nations, 2015b). This paper reports on findings from qualitative research investigating Fijian stakeholders’ priorities for measuring success of efforts within a contextually and culturally meaningful process of disabilityinclusive education; that is, achievement of SDG 4 for children with disabilities. The priorities are presented in light of the specific challenges in Fiji to fulfilling this goal. The research presented in this paper is one part of a much larger mixed method study funded by the Australian aid program that aimed to develop and test indicators for the education of children with disabilities in the Pacific (Sharma et al., 2016). Fijian researchers with lived experience of disability undertook key informant interviews and focus group discussions with 28 participants. The findings include the need for or role of: an implementation plan and resourcing to ensure the national inclusive education policy is activated; improved awareness and attitudes; competent, confident and compassionate teachers; disability-specific services and assistive technology; accessible buildings and transport; and the important role of special schools. Inclusive education reform requires that Fiji incorporates and builds on existing strengths in special and inclusive education to ensure that systems and people are prepared and resourced for inclusion. The paper concludes that targets within SDG 4 are compatible with priorities within Fiji, however additional indicators are required to measure locally-prioritized changes related to barriers which need to be addressed if Fiji is to make progress towards the higher-order targets of SDG 4.

Disability & the Global South (DGS), 2017, Vol. 4 No. 1

This video presents the barriers to participation in society that people with disabilities face in Russia despite the Russian government claims regarding accessibility in the lead up to the Winter Paralympics Games in Sochi in March 2014

This report presents the findings from The Zero Project 2012 which highlights the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The report’s thematic focus on barriers provides examples of social indicators, good practice and good policy relating to accessibility to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, as well as to other facilities and services provided to the public “"A prelude to the European Accessibility Act: Findings of the international Zero Project Report 2012"
Brussels, Belgium
21 June 2012