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- Convenor:
-
Francisca Adom-Opare
(University of Edinburgh)
Send message to Convenor
- Chair:
-
Allan Laville
(University of Reading)
- Format:
- Panel
- Stream:
- Gender
- Location:
- Edith Morley G44
- Sessions:
- Friday 30 June, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
Disability issues often seem precarious/far-fetched, because the World Report on Disability statistically places disabled people as the largest minority. This has negatively affected how disability is mainstreamed - an afterthought/minor issue rather than a central/major issue.
Long Abstract:
Most often in human development, with the continuous emergence of new challenges amidst an interconnected world, disability issues seem precarious and far-fetched. This is because, for instance, the World Report on Disability - currently obsolete indicates that 15% of the world population identify as having some form of disability - statistically places disabled people as the largest minority and, therefore, development design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation consciously or unconsciously do not undertake meaningful disability mainstreaming. The panel calls for papers that address the following questions and beyond? The panel looks for creative and innovative presentations - traditional presentations, arts - video, audio, drawings, paintings, etc.
Guiding Questions
1. What are the connections and agency of disability in development?
2. How do we overturn conventional ways of theorizing and practicing development to foreground disability?
3. Is disability a minority/majority issue, and what are the consequences of treating disability as a minority/majority issue in development?
4. What is the economic case for disability inclusion?
5. Does disability mainstreaming drive innovation and creativity; in what ways?
If the disability is understood as a group that anyone can embrace at any time due to genetics, improved disability measurement mechanisms, environmental and social factors, and eventually ageing, then disability affects all of us and must therefore be treated as one of the core tenets of any development.
This panel aims to critically unearth the importance of disability inclusion within the "Anthropocene", as often disability issues are rarely discussed within the broader context of rethinking development.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Friday 30 June, 2023, -Francisca Adom-Opare (University of Edinburgh)
Paper long abstract:
Centring Local Disability Epistemology in Disability Measurement in sub-Saharan Africa – ‘Sankofa’: The Case of Albinism
Vidhya Unnikrishnan
Paper short abstract:
Social protection policies targeted on the disabled are not frequently evaluated in the context of developing countries. I have evaluated Indira Gandhi National Disability Programme, a social protection policy targeted on poor disabled in India on income, multidimensional poverty, and medical exp
Paper long abstract:
The paper examines the impact of the Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme
(IGNDPS), a social assistance programme targeted at poor, disabled persons in India. Although
disability affects all aspects of life, it is well known that people who are disabled incur a higher
level of medical expenditure and experience higher levels of poverty and those households
have lower earnings. This paper evaluates if access to IGNDPS reduces economic and
multidimensional poverty and improves the allocation of expenses incurred for medical
purposes and household earnings. For this purpose, we have combined propensity score
matching and the difference-in-differences method in a three-way fixed effect setting in panel
data. Further, we have also weighted the regression estimates with their propensity score to
address concerns on sample selection bias. Our empirical results suggest that access to the
Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme (IGNDPS) has helped households increase
the share of expenses incurred on in-patient medical services. Sex-based disaggregated results
suggest that the female programme recipients have experienced a higher level of economic and
multidimensional poverty and a decline in the share of out-patient medical expenses.
We also find that there are regional heterogeneities in the results. The programme has helped
recipients living in metro regions to reduce multidimensional poverty, with no such effects
found in the non-metro areas. Overall, the results obtained from the paper suggest that the
social assistance programme has not reduced the burdens faced by the disabled.
Afeez Kolawole Shittu (Federal College of Education (Special))
Paper long abstract:
Participation of all citizens in the electoral process irrespective of gender, class, race, and ability is a fundamental right protected by various laws and conventions. However, Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Nigeria and many other emerging democracies often experienced difficulties in exercising this right due to legal, institutional, cultural, and administrative barriers. Various laws, reforms, and policies have been proposed and implemented to facilitate the electoral inclusion of PWDs, including ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD). Article 29 of that Treaty requires all states to ensure that ‘voting procedures, facilities and materials are appropriate, accessible and easy to understand and use’, and that the rights of all disabled people to participate fully and equally in political and public life are protected. Nigeria, a signatory to the UN Convention, has also domesticated the Disability Act in 2019, and reformed some sections of electoral law in 2022. Apart from these, Nigeria’s election management body (INEC) has spearheaded reforms aiming to promote the inclusivity of PWDs in the electoral process. Beyond policies and reforms, the paper relies on interviews, observations, and document reviews to examine the extent to which the INEC complies with the extant laws, policies and reforms relating to the participation of PWDs in the administration of elections in Nigeria. This is timely research for the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in Nigeria, especially as the country prepares for the 2023 general elections.