23 February 2012
People with disabilities
It is estimated that there are more than 600 million people with disability in the world (WHO). This represents between 18 and 20% of the world’s population. When the impact on families and carers is also considered, approximately 25% of the world’s population is affected by disability.. There is a strong correlation of impairment and ageing, hence it is estimated that the incidence of disability will rise as the baby-boomer generation age.
In addition, improvements in the quality of life for people with chronic illness and disability as well as advances in medicine are prolonging life in the face of previously life threatening situations and raising the incidence of disability particularly in industrialised countries. For example many babies born prematurely now survive often with significant disability. People are more likely to survive serious accidents and then live with head injury, spinal cord injuries or other impairments.
In the majority of the non-industrialised world, the incidence of disability is particularly high. War, famine, disasters all contribute to injury, impairment and disability. Land mines account for vast numbers of people with disability chiefly in Africa and Asia. The correlation of disability and poverty is well known and indeed constitutes a major focus for many international projects (Braithwaite, Carroll, Mont & Peffley, 2008). Many people with disability in the developing world live on less than US$1 per day.
‘… disabled people are also more likely than other people to live in grinding poverty. More than 1.3 billion people worldwide struggle to exist on less than [US]$1 a day, and the disabled in their countries live at the bottom of the pile.’ James D. Wolfensohn, former president of the World Bank, 2002
The human rights of people with a disability were first identified as a priority in the 1970s with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Mentally Retarded in 1975. Efforts to bring issues for people with a disability on global scale have continued with the most recent Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability being passed in December 2006. This instrument has had a major impact. The CRPD provides clear directions and guidelines for legislative change, policy development and implementation for those governments and states ratifying the convention and Optional Protocol.
Social workers work with individuals with a disability, with families who have a child or family member with a disability as well as with communities both domestically and internationally. Our work in these spheres encompasses, direct practice, group work, community development, policy practice, research and advocacy. Social workers have played key roles in the development of antidiscrimination legislation, policies that support persons with disability and the development of disability programs. Social workers work alongside people with disabilities and families to realise social inclusion, community living, employment, family support, and rehabilitation. A policy statement on persons with disability therefore is a key platform for IFSW.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are around 600 million persons with disabilities. Other estimates are at 650 million. These cover many types and degrees of impairments. The day to day life of around 25 per cent of the world’s population is affected by disability. There is a strong correlation of impairment and ageing, hence it is estimated that the incidence of disability will rise as the baby-boomer generation age. In the majority world the correlation of poverty and disability is well known.
The history of how people with disabilities are treated is marked by marginalisation, discrimination, profound exclusion, and ultimate extermination. Throughout the industrialised world people with disabilities have experienced marginalisation, segregation, stigma and social exclusion. In the developing world attitudes to disability vary according to social norms, religious beliefs and cultural values. Some impairments are not