Over 1 billion people, or approximately 15 percent of the world’s population, live with some form of disability. Eighty percent of them live in developing countries.
Persons with disabilities are more likely to experience poverty, and less opportunities more than those without disabilities. They are also less likely to access basic services because of stigma, discrimination and inaccessibility. The lack of access to vital services and programs contribute to their marginalization and exclusion, with little or no option to escape from poverty.
Societies that are inclusive of person’s with disabilities are more likely to be democratic, participatory and equitable. Those societies are more likely to meet their development goals,and enjoy economic success. Persons with disabilities remain invisible in the global and community development agenda.
CENTER FOR INNOVATIVE AND PRAGMATIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE (CIPDI) supports disability-specific programs to address targeted needs; and seek to integrate disability into all our programs. Disability rights are human rights; and excluding persons with disabilities results in economic losses for the community where they live and for the global economy.
We are working across several fields to further the human rights of people with disabilities including:
- Education
- Inclusion in political processes
- Economic empowerment
- Job training
- Improving design of health and emergency services.
Across these fields, our programs seek to:
- Improve the quality and accessibility of education for students with disabilities through the promotion of sign language, Braille, assistive technology and other inclusive education practices.
- Increase the participation of people with disabilities in political processes through national awareness campaigns, use of accessible polling stations and voter materials and open exchange between disability communities and politicians to rewrite election laws to be more inclusive and compliant with the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.
- Strengthen organizations run by and for people with disabilities to advocate on their own behalf, design and implement development programs and access direct funding.
- Support the economic independence of women with disabilities through microcredit programs that provide seed grants to women to invest in their families and start new businesses.
- Integrate youth and adults with disabilities into the competitive workforce by facilitating job training, internship opportunities and educating employers on best practices for hiring people with disabilities.
- Ensure community health care providers and disaster response experts include people with disabilities in their programs by employing the principles of universal design.
