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- Convenors:
-
Nicola Jones
(ODI GAGE)
Ola Abu Alghaib (Leonard Cheshire )
Gerison Lansdown
- Stream:
- L: Youth and inequality
- Location:
- F6
- Start time:
- 28 June, 2018 at
Time zone: Europe/London
- Session slots:
- 1
Short Abstract:
Adolescents and youth with disabilities 'are amongst the most marginalised and poorest of the world's youth (UNICEF, 2013)', yet lack visibility on the development agenda. The proposed panel will explore how to enhance the wellbeing and resilience of adolescents with disabilities in diverse LMICs.
Long Abstract:
Adolescents and youth with disabilities 'are amongst the most marginalised and poorest of the world's youth,' experiencing widespread violations of their rights and entrenched social exclusion (UNICEF, 2013). Whilst there is a significant shortage of empirical research on the prevalence of disabilities among adolescents (10-19 years) and youth (15-24 years) and on their living conditions, there are an estimated 180-220 million adolescents and youth with disabilities globally, with nearly 80% of them living in low/ middle income countries (LMICS) (Groce 2003).
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development have contributed to greater inclusion of young people with disabilities, but adolescents and youth with disabilities still face very limited visibility within international development research, policy and practice. There are not only significant data gaps which hinder evidence-informed programming, but adolescents and youth also often fall between the cracks of services for children with disabilities and adults with disabilities, and moreover they are rarely mainstreamed into programming for young people (Groce and Kett, 2014; WHO and World Bank, 2011).
The proposed panel would be convened by Ola Abu Alghaib, Head of Influencing, Impact and Learning, Leonard Cheshire Disability, Dr Nicola Jones, ODI Principal Research Fellow and Programme Director of the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) longitudinal research programme and Gerison Lansdown, international children's and persons with disabilities expert to explore how to enhance the development trajectories, wellbeing and resilience of adolescents and youth with disabilities in diverse LMICs.
Accepted papers:
Session 1Paper short abstract:
The study reports on Kenya's youth with disabilities' activity on social media and how these activities impact their current participation and future possibilities to live the kind of 'life they value' as young people.
Paper long abstract:
This paper reports on an ongoing PhD study that seeks to understand youth with disabilities in higher education in Kenya and their activities on social media. The participants in this study represent a small group of youth with disabilities in higher education who have defied the odds and broken through the country's elitist educational system that continues to leave behind a significant number of youth with disabilities and consequently reduces their opportunities to participate in development in adulthood. This participatory study is framed within Sen's capability approach and explores these youth's activity on social media and how these activities impact their current participation and future aspirations in life. The study worked with seven participants (20 - 24 years) from three universities in Nairobi. Data was collected in three phases and employed integrated methods including: informal conversations, social media diaries, social media maps, life-story interviews and a self-directed photography session.
This presentation will focus on the participants' social media activities in the context of their educational journey in relation to their; choice of social media, what they value about social media and the people and networks they engage with. It will in turn consider how these participants' activities on social media impact their social capabilities. Emerging data suggest that social media expands the participants capabilities for advocacy, confidence, knowledge, social relations, income generation, individual agency and voice which are key to pursuing the kind of 'life they value' as young people. Implications for policy and practice will also be discussed.
Paper short abstract:
This paper will examine the advances made by LMICs in the inclusion of disabled children and youth within mainstream policies and its implications on their social outcomes following the adoption of The UN convention on the Persons with disabilities and its Optional Protocol 2006.
Paper long abstract:
Critical disability studies have their origins in advanced economies especially UK which was at the forefront of advocating social model of disability. Internationally, the UN convention on the Persons with disabilities and its Optional Protocol was adopted on 13 December, 2006 the Convention came into effect on 3 May, 2008. The convention paved the way for the diffusion of global norms on social models of disability across the world. The Convention was intended as a human rights instrument with explicit commitment to recognizing that it is the attitudinal and environmental barriers have adverse impacts on the participation of disabled individuals in society. This paper will specifically examine the advances made by LMICs in the inclusion of disabled children and youth within mainstream policies and its implications on their social outcomes. First, this article examines the transnational debates on disability and traces the paradigm shifts in policy discourses. Second, it conducts an empirical social-legal analysis adoption of legal provisions at national levels. Third, it examines policy diffusion in the field of disability policies with special reference to children and youth and its implications for their social outcomes. In conclusion, it draws reflections for a paradigm shift within sociology of disability towards sociology of enablement which goes beyond binaries of 'social' and 'asocial' models of disability.