Millenium Development Goals and Disability

The General Assembly of UN accepted the Millennium Decleration in September 2000. The member countries of UN have pledged to work for the development problems of the world. The goals were set to meet the needs. The content and dignity of the Millennium Decleration is the basement of the Finnish development policy.

The MDGs will fail if disabled persons are excluded – See the reasons below:

MDG1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

82 % of disabled people live below the poverty line in developing countries (UN)
20 % of impairments are caused by malnutrition (DFID 2000)

MDG 2. Achieve universal primary education

98 % of children with disabilities in developing countries do NOT attend schools (UNESCO)
The global literacy rate for adults with disability is 3 % (Helander 1998)

MDG 3. Promote gender equality and empower women

Abuse of disabled women and disabled girls. A survey in Orissa, India found that 100 % of disabled women and girls were beaten at home, 25 % of women with learning disabilities had been raped and 6 % of disabled women had been forcibly sterilised (Mohapatra, Mohanty 2004).

MDG 4. Reduce child mortality

Mortality for disabled children is as high as 80 % even in countries where under-five mortality is below 20 % (DFID 2000)

MDG 5. Improve maternal health

20 million women per year experience disability from complications during pregnancy and in childbirth (UNFPA 2003)

MDG 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Disabled people are most vulnerable to HIV and AIDS: victims of sexual abuse, restricted access to information or services, prevalence of HIV infection in mothers of children with disabilities is twice that of other groups (Yousafzi and Edwards 2004, Grooce 2004) (CBMI Tanzania study).

MDG 7. Ensure environmental sustainability

100 million people have disabling conditions due to malnutrition, inadequate sanitary facilities and inadequate health care. Poor environmental planning perpetuates exclusion – we call for inclusive, social and environmental planning.

MDG 8. Develop a global partnership for development

The international disability movement successfully mobilised for a UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled Persons. The Convention was accepted in December 13 th 2006 and is on the process of ratification.
The African Decade of disabled persons 1999 – 2009: endorsed by the African Union to promote disability empowerment in Africa.

More information

http://www.iddc.org.uk/