[PDF-fullMembers] Beyond a seat at the table: towards disability equity in Asia-Pacific

Fri Sep 8 15:00:03 +12 2023

Very well said
Thank you
kind regards

On Fri, 8 Sept 2023 at 08:26, Paradise Tabucala <
Paradise.Tabucala at pacificdisability.org> wrote:

> Beyond a seat at the table: towards disability equity in Asia-Pacific
>
> By Setareki Macanawai and Jane Edge on Sep 07, 2023 06:00 am
>
>
>
> While there has been some progress in our region for people with
> disabilities in the last decade, it has been far too slow, and was set back
> by the pandemic, leaving people with disabilities even further behind.
> People with disabilities remain among the poorest and most marginalised in
> any given place at any given time, including in the Asia-Pacific region.
>
>
>
> Included? Sometimes. A seat at the table? Occasionally. Full and equal
> participation and leadership? Rarely.
>
>
>
> People with disabilities were hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic – in
> terms of both impacts on health and on livelihoods. People with
> disabilities are more vulnerable to the growing effects of climate change.
> The scale of national budget investment to support people with disabilities
> remains stubbornly low across the region. And in 2021-22, just 2.5% of
> Australia’s aid expenditure was attributable as disability inclusion.
>
>
>
> *So – how do we shift the dial?*
>
> The Australian government is about to start development of a new strategy
> to guide disability inclusion in its development work, to be called the
> ‘Disability Equity and Rights Strategy’. This will be the third disability
> inclusion strategy in the development program.
>
>
>
> The name for the new strategy signals that government has listened to the
> shift taking place in the disability movement, with strong leadership from
> the Pacific, seeking to take a step beyond ‘inclusion’ and work for true
> equity.
>
>
>
> *What do we mean when we talk about equity as a step beyond inclusion?*
>
> Australia has played an important role, over more than a decade, in the
> progress we have seen toward disability inclusion. The two previous
> Development for All strategies had a solid focus on the central role of
> people with disabilities and their representative organisations at the
> front and centre of development efforts. This laid a strong platform for
> people with disabilities to be acknowledged, be present and participate.
>
>
>
> More broadly, international frameworks and organised representation by
> people with disabilities are mature and well established. The Convention on
> the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been in place for 15 years and
> has been almost universally adopted. The early work of pioneers of the
> disability movement in the Pacific led to the establishment of the Pacific
> Disability Forum in 2002. The first Asia-Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons
> was proclaimed in 1992. We are now in the fourth decade.
>
>
>
> Building on these frameworks, initiatives and representations, people with
> disabilities are often included, and they can sometimes be found at the
> table. But we must now ask – are people with disabilities seeing and
> feeling the benefits of that inclusion? While there are many examples of
> progress and good practice, the overall answer is ‘no’.
>
>
>
> Too often, we see disability inclusion in practice as largely rhetorical.
> It’s a box to tick in a funding application or in donor reporting. It’s the
> ability to say that one member on a committee is a person with
> disabilities. It does not equate to fit for purpose engagement.
>
>
>
> So then, there’s a difference between inclusion as such and full,
> effective and meaningful participation and leadership. And it’s the latter
> that we need. That will make a difference in the lives of hundreds of
> millions of people in our region alone.
>
>
>
> We understand that this is a process as well as an outcome. The key now is
> how to significantly improve both the process and the outcome.
>
>
>
> As is so often the case, the answer is in the fundamentals. The
> fundamentals of what real inclusion looks like, of what’s required in order
> for there to be equity. We call them the ‘pre-conditions to inclusion’,
> which remove barriers to full, effective and meaningful participation.
>
> The pre-conditions, as defined by the Pacific Disability Forum, are
> accessibility, assistive technology, support services, social protection,
> non-discrimination and community-based inclusive development.
>
>
>
> These are not radical or complex concepts in themselves. So, you may well
> ask, decades into the organised movement for disability inclusion – what’s
> holding up the achievement of these pre-conditions?
>
>
>
> In large part, the answer is a lack of understanding. Too often this comes
> from not taking the time to listen – to really listen – to the needs of
> people with lived experience of disability.
>
> The disability movement is speaking clearly. We need governments,
> institutions and development actors to listen, take the time to understand,
> and commit resources to responding appropriately.
>
>
>
> We recognise and acknowledge the early signs that this call is being heard
> as part of the implementation plan for the 2050 Strategy for the Blue
> Pacific Continent, which is currently in development, and in the naming of
> the forthcoming Australian ‘Disability Equity and Rights Strategy’.
>
>
>
> What would it look like for the Australian government to turn these early
> signs into positive steps in the strategy? It would look like a strategy
> that is:
>
> •                     *ambitious* – that has the voice and priorities of
> people with disabilities and their representative organisations at the
> heart, and prioritises authentic partnership, including ensuring space is
> created to hear from women and children with disabilities
>
> •                     *accountable* – includes requirements and targets
> for disability inclusion across the development program with effective
> monitoring and reporting
>
> •                     *resourced *– comes with increased, long-term,
> flexible funding for organisations of people with disabilities, and boosted
> capacity across the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to
> deliver, including technical capacity on disability inclusion and capacity
> to support civil society; this includes supporting initiatives, movements,
> and organisations of and for women with disabilities.
>
> The disability movement and its allies are clear about what’s needed. We
> look forward to working with the Australian government and other actors to
> ensure those needs are heard and implemented, so that we really can move
> beyond having a seat at the table, towards full and meaningful
> participation for people with disabilities – towards equity.
>
>
>
> *About the author/s*
>
> *Setareki Macanawai*
>
> Setareki Macanawai is CEO of the Pacific Disability Forum. Members of the
> forum are organizations of persons with disabilities spread across 22
> Pacific island countries and territories.
>
>
>
> *Jane Edge*
>
> Jane Edge is CEO of CBM Australia.
>
>
>
> Disclosure
>
> CBM Australia receives grants under the Australian NGO Cooperation
> Program. CBM’s Inclusion Advisory Group has also been DFAT’s technical
> partner on disability inclusion since 2010 under partnership agreements.
> The Pacific Disability Forum is currently supported by DFAT as well as
> through New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
>
>
>
> Vinaka and Kind Regards
>
> *Paradise Tabucala* *| Public Relations & Comms Officer*
>
>
>
> <http://www.pacificdisability.org/>
>
>
>
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-- 

*Nelly Caleb*

*National Coordinator|/Vanuatu Disability Promotion & Advocacy Association.*

*P.O .Box  71,Luganville , Santo. *

*Tel: 678 37997, Mobile no, 7796946 or 5421040*

*Telephone : 37997  mobile :7796946*

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