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Include us! : a study of disability among Plan International's sponsored children

PLAN INTERNATIONAL
MONTEAT-VAN DOCK, Adrienne
December 2013

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This study report reveals that children with disabilities in developing countries are being held back from an education. Based upon Plan’s dataset of 1.4 million sponsored children, the report compares sponsored children with a disability to those without, from 30 countries worldwide
Key findings include: children with disabilities are 10 times more likely not to attend school when they do attend school; their level of schooling is below that of their peers; and children with disabilities are much more likely to have had a serious illness in the last 12 months, including malaria and malnutrition. The findings will help Plan and other researchers and organisations to improve responses to the needs of children with disabilities, particularly their health and education

Spinal cord injury

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)
November 2013

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WHO factsheet on spinal cord Injury (SCI) presents key facts related to spinal cord injury (SCI).  It includes the following details: background information; prevalence; demographic trends; mortality; the health, economic and social consequences of SCI; prevention; improving care and overcoming barriers; and WHO response

Fact sheet N°384

An evidence review of research on health interventions in humanitarian crises

BLANCHET, Karl
et al
November 2013

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This report presents a review of the evidence base of public health interventions in humanitarian crises by assessing the quantity and quality of intervention studies, rather than measuring the actual effectiveness of the intervention itself.  It notes an increase in quality and volume of evidence on health interventions in humanitarian crises and recognises that evidence remains too limited, particularly for gender-based violence (GBV) and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). This report identifies a number of common needs across all areas, namely more evidence for the effectiveness of systems and delivery, better developed research methods, and more evidence on dispersed, urban and rural populations, on ensuring continuity of care and measuring and addressing health care needs in middle-income settings (particularly NCDs)

Note: Use links on the left hand side of the webpage to access either the full report, the executive summary, or the individual chapters arranged by health topic

Equal rights at the heart of the post-2015 development agenda : position paper in response to the report of the high-level panel of eminent persons on the post-2015 development agenda

EQUAL RIGHTS TRUST
September 2013

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This position paper calls for the adoption of comprehensive equality legislation to be included as a specific development goal in the framework established to succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The paper argues that a failure to address inequality has been one of the undeniable failings of the MDGs. It presents research to illustrate that status-based discrimination is a driver of both income poverty and denial of access to economic and social rights, such as education and health, which are central to the current MDG framework. The paper argues that establishing effective legal protection for the rights to equality and non-discrimination can provide an important mechanism for alleviating poverty and its consequences, and concludes that this is only possible with the adoption of comprehensive equality legislation

Rights should be central to the post 2015 agenda

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH (HRW)
September 2013

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This report highlights that "a new global framework on development should be rooted in existing, internationally-agreed human rights standards, as set out in core documents like the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Governments have legal obligations to Governments have legal obligations to respect, protect and fulfil these rights, including in their development programs and policies...Making human rights integral to development and a post-2015 development framework would contribute to more just and inclusive development outcomes, especially through an emphasis on participation, empowerment, and transparency"

Improving health at home and abroad : how overseas volunteering from the nhs benefits the uk and the world

ALL PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP ON GLOBAL HEALTH
July 2013

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"This report describes how British health volunteers help to make big improvements in health in other countries whilst at the same time benefiting the UK. It argues that even more could be achieved with better organisation and support and that more people can be involved through virtual communication as well as by actually travelling abroad"

Improving health at home and abroad : how overseas volunteering from the NHS benefits the UK and the world|Executive summary

ALL PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP ON GLOBAL HEALTH
July 2013

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This executive summary presents a summary of the main report which describes how British health volunteers help to make big improvements in health in other countries whilst at the same time benefiting the UK. It argues that even more could be achieved with better organisation and support and that more people can be involved through virtual communication as well as by actually travelling abroad

Disability

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)
March 2013

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This report from the WHO Secretariat outlines the health and socioeconomic situation of people with disabilities and details related responses and recommendations, as well as the activities of the Secretariat
A66/12

Post-2015 development goals : eighth report of session 2012-2013|Volume I : report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
January 2013

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The UK International Development committee "report begins (Chapter 2) with a more detailed exploration of the processes by which the post-2015 development goals are being developed and the consultations which are being undertaken. In Chapter 3, we consider what the overarching purpose of the new goals should be, including consideration of the extent to which development should be integrated with issues of environmental sustainability. In Chapter 4, we assess the potential content of the post-2015 framework. In doing so, our intention is not to be prescriptive, but to set out some broad issues to be borne in mind when the framework is being developed. Finally, in Chapter 5, we assess the potential structure of the new framework, including a consideration of the role of targets and indicators"
HC 657
Note: Additional written evidence is contained in Volume II, available on the Committee website

The global status report on road safety 2013 : supporting a decade of action

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)
2013

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"This report presents information on road safety from 182 countries, accounting for almost 99% of the world’s population. The report indicates that worldwide the total number of road traffic deaths remains unacceptably high at 1.24 million per year. Only 28 countries, covering 7% of the world’s population, have comprehensive road safety laws on five key risk factors: drinking and driving, speeding, and failing to use motorcycle helmets, seat-belts, and child restraints. This report serves as a baseline for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, declared by the UN General Assembly. This is the second in a Global status report series"

Sustaining human development : addressing NCDs and disability across the lifecourse

THE NCD ALLIANCE
et al
2013

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This report explores three interconnected global trends — a growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the rising prevalence of disability, and changing global population demographics (including rapidly ageing populations). The report highlights that there issues were collectively neglected as policy priorities during the era of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It stresses that the unique opportunity to ensure a future framework that fully integrates NCDs, that goals and targets drive progress for all people including persons with disabilities, and that a lifecourse and rights-based approach underpins all goals and targets to ensure no one is left behind

Disabled people and the post-2015 development goal agenda through a disability studies lens

WOLBRING, Gregor
MACKAY, Rachel
RYBCHINSKI, Theresa
NOGA, Jacqueline
2013

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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

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