Where people with disabilities achieve invisibility
The hundreds of millions of people living with disabilities in developing countries will remain invisible unless the world dramatically improves its data collection on disability, the UK's parliamentary undersecretary for international development has warned.
Speaking at a conference in London on Thursday, Lynne Featherstone called on donors, civil society organisations and academics to address the issue by agreeing on a single, standardised method of collecting information.
'It's a sad truth that in many developing countries people with disabilities simply don't count,' she said.
'No data is collected on their disabilities nor their abilities, so it's as if they just don't exist.'
According to World Health Organisation and World Bank figures, about 1 billion people – 15% of the world's population – are disabled. The definition of disability under the UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities encompasses a wide range of impairments – physical, sensory, intellectual and mental health – but with a common experience of stigma and exclusion.
Featherstone said the absence of concrete evidence on disability was making it far too easy for governments and others to ignore those who were already among the most neglected in society.
