ADDC Webinar - 8 December 2015
Good morning everyone and thank you for joining me for our first ever webinar. It's a great
way to celebrate International Day of People with Disability, which was held last Thursday,
on the 3rd of December. My name is Sophie Plumridge, and I'm the Executive Officer of the
Australian Disability and Development Consortium or ADDC. For those of you that don't
know about ADDC, it's an Australian based international network focusing attention,
expertise, and action on disability in developing countries building on a human rights
platform for disability advocacy. We seek a world free of poverty and for people with
disability to be able to exercise their human rights within an inclusive society. We promote
the right and inclusion of people with disability in development activity, advocating that
disability be fully integrated into all Australian development programs and policies. ADDC
has four key principles - value and include all people as equal and celebrate diversity,
promote human rights and empowerment, work through partnership to build capacity in
disability inclusive development, work with and engage disabled people's organisations or
DPOs to build capacity and share resources. We focus on using the collective voice of our
500 members to lead and advocate the disability inclusive development with Australian
development stakeholders, including government, international NGOs, and increasingly
managing contractors and the private sector. We also seek to build sector knowledge on
disability inclusive development practice.
It's encouraging that we are starting to move past the discussion of why people with disability
should be included in development, to how, and disability inclusive development is becoming
business as usual in our international aid effort. This is leading to a growing understanding
and recognition that poverty cannot be alleviated and inequality cannot be addressed without
reaching those who are most in need. With disability, it means addressing a vicious cycle of
poverty and disability, both through mainstream and targeted effort. Today, we are hosting
this webinar to launch a new practice note on disability inclusive development, and I am
delighted that Lucy Ledger, a technical advisor from CBM Australia will be joining me later.
She will help walk us through some of the principles in the practice note, drawing on her
experiences implementing disability inclusive development practices. So before we delve
into the practice note though, we'll take a little bit of time to provide some background on
some recent developments. So our agenda today will cover International Day of People with
Disability, the MDGs or millennium development goals, the SDGs or sustainable
development goals, and another acronym, the UNCRPD or the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disability. We'll also talk about DFAT - Development For All
Strategy, and some background to the practice note, which some of you have been involved
in. Lucy will then take us through the key principles of disability inclusive development
outlined in the practice note, and we'll conclude by looking at some key resources that are
also listed at the back of the practice note. So from a practical perspective, this presentation
will take around 45 minutes, and we have left around 15 minutes for questions at the end.
This is an interactive webinar, so you can ask questions online or put forward comments to
contribute to the discussion as we go along. We have a few people on hand to answer your
questions including Elena Down, who is a technical advisor from CBM Australia. So we
really encourage you to get involved and send us through some questions as we go along, and
then we can have a discussion at the end of the webinar as well.
So let's start by reflecting on the International Day of People with Disability, which was held
last Thursday on the 3rd of December. International Day of People with Disability is a great
day to shine the spotlight on disability globally and raise awareness of the 1 billion people or
15% of the world's population who experience disability. With 80% of people with
disabilities living in poor countries, disability and poverty are interconnected. Disability
Transcribed by Type Transcripts – Online Audio Transcription Services
www.typetranscripts.com.au manager@typetranscripts.com.au
Page 1
ADDC Webinar - 8 December 2015
increases the risk of poverty, and poverty leads to higher rates of disability. People living in
poverty have a higher chance of acquiring a disability due to lack of medical care, poor
nutrition, violence, and unsafe housing and work conditions. This year, ADDC worked
alongside CBM Australia and other agencies to promote the day and the importance of
including people with disability in our development program and highlighting disability
within the recently endorsed sustainable development goals. Our politicians were also
involved with the new minister for International Development and the Pacific, Steven Ciobo,
announcing that Australia will join a new global action on disability groups which will work
with government, NGOs, and the private sector to ensure people with disability are included
in international development efforts. This continues to build Australia's leadership role on
disability inclusive development. Thank you to everyone who participated in International
Day of People with Disability this year, and some of you have joined us today. We had a
record number of organizations involved with blogs, tweets, and posts from Australian
agencies.
So to explore the theme a bit further, let's talk about how disability fits with the sustainable
development goals. To do this, we'll take a step back and discuss their predecessor the
millennium development goals or MDGs. As you would know, the millennium development
goals were made up of 8 international development goals that were established following the
Millennium Summit of the United Nations in the year 2000. They have had a tremendous
effect on the collaboration and prioritization of development work in developing countries
over the last 15 years. What you may not realise is that there was no mention of people with
disability in the MDGs, and as a result, people with disability were excluded from many
development programs and funding streams. In September this year, world leaders agreed to
the next version of the MDGs, the sustainable development goals or SDGs, also known as
2030 agenda or the global goal. For the international disability sector, the exciting thing
about the SDGs is they were developed in consultation with people with disability and they
include people with disability.
Let's take a look now at a terrific new video - Building a World for All - made in Lego and
produced by CBM Australia. This video has been widely shared as part of International Day
of People with Disability celebration and demonstrates how development cannot be fully
achieved without the inclusion of people with disability.
[video insert] It's the year 2000, and the world needs help. I turned 5 last year, but millions
of kids aren't making it to their fifth birthday. If they do make it, lots never go to school. So
the grown-ups set some big goals to try to make the world a better place. In the next 15
years, they want to halve hunger, teach every child, and keep children under 5 alive. But
people with disability aren't included in the goals. It's 2015. I'm 20 years old. The world has
shown what it's capable of when it comes together. Half as many people are living in
extreme poverty. More children make it to their fifth birthday. And primary school
enrollment is up to 90% worldwide, but not everyone has felt the progress. Right now, 1
billion people live with disability. All kinds of disabilities, including those you can't see.
And the majority live in poor countries. So the world creates the global goals, and this time,
they include people with disability, where no matter where you are from or what your ability,
you have equal opportunities to succeed. It's 2030, and the world is getting more equal every
day. Extreme poverty is a thing of the past. Every boy and girl with disability is going to
school, and people with disability enjoy their human rights and achieve their full potential.
Transcribed by Type Transcripts – Online Audio Transcription Services
www.typetranscripts.com.au manager@typetranscripts.com.au
Page 2
ADDC Webinar - 8 December 2015
This is the kind of change that we can build in our lifetime. Let's continue to work together
and create an inclusive world where everyone thrives. Will you help us build it?
Congratulations to CBM Australia for putting a video together and sending such a powerful
message of inclusion. It's very encouraging that people with disability are strongly included
in the 2030 agenda with 11 references being made in total across 5 sections including the
preamble, declaration, sustainable development goals and targets, means of implementation
and the global partnership, and the followup and review. It's also important to mention that
within the SDGs there are 7 explicit references to people with disability in 5 different goals.
They include goal 4 quality education, goal 8 decent work and economic growth, goal 10
reduced inequalities, goal 11 sustainable cities and communities, and goal 17 partnerships for
the goals. While the inclusion of people with disability in these 5 goals is extremely positive,
it is important to note that all goals have relevance to people with disability and disability
inclusion. All 17 global goals cannot be achieved without including 15% of the global
population who live with disability. The SDGs declared in 2015 uphold the critical
importance of disability inclusive approaches in development processes and affirm the global
commitment to inclusive societies. The SDGs require government, NGOs, and development
partners to ensure people with disability and their representative organisations are included in
all aspects of development. In implementing the SDGs, the overall guiding document is the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted by the United Nations in 2006.
The convention provides a globally agreed framework that not only articulates clear
obligations for governments, but also underpins both the work of national disability focused
organisations globally and disability inclusive development factors. Proudly, Australia was
one of the first countries to adopt the convention and to ratify both the convention and the
optional protocols. Following ratification of the convention, the Australian government
developed a strategy Development for All towards a disability inclusive Australian aid
program 2009 to 2014. The strategy set out to improve the quality of life for people with
disability and provided leadership on disability and development as well as upskill
government staff and improved understanding of disability inclusion. In May 2015, the
Australian Government launched its second strategy on disability inclusive development
called Development for All: Strategy for Strengthening Disability Inclusive Development in
Australia's Aid Program 2015 to 2020. This strategy applies across the work of the
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade or DFAT, and the aid program in particular. The
government expects that organisations implementing DFAT funded activities will apply this
strategy, including NGOs which receive government funding for international aid activity.
ADDC members inputted into the strategy via two consultation sessions. Following the
release of the strategy, ADDC again organised the members to come together. This provided
a valuable opportunity to discuss progress on disability inclusive development and the
principles that underpin practice in this area.
While a small number of Australian NGOs have been working on disability issues in an
international context for decades, most development NGOs have only begun to consider this
area in detail since 2008-2009. What's exciting though is the discourse is changing, and we're
moving from agencies asking why people with disabilities should be included in programs, to
how. Recognizing that approximately 15% of the world's population have a disability,
adopting a disability inclusive approach is now regarded by the United Nations Agencies, the
Australian Government's Aid Program, and increasingly many NGOs as critical for leaving
no-one behind in development processes and outcomes. Furthermore, articles 11 and 32 of
Transcribed by Type Transcripts – Online Audio Transcription Services
www.typetranscripts.com.au manager@typetranscripts.com.au
Page 3
ADDC Webinar - 8 December 2015
the CRPD specifically reinforce the obligations of development and humanitarian
stakeholders to ensure disability inclusion in both development and humanitarian domains.
So let's turn our attention now to the practice note on disability inclusive development. This
practice note updates the previous practice note completed in 2008 and has been repaired,
drawing on the two workshops by an independent consultant, Deborah Rhodes, who has
expertise in disability inclusive development. It should be noted that the practice note is not
an exhaustive document. Rather, it has been developed to assist staff of organisations which
are involved in international development and humanitarian programs. The intention is to
enable organisations to build on their existing achievements and strengthen policies and
practices, partnerships and programs, in order to maximize disability inclusion. Primarily, it
is envisaged that Australian NGOs which undertake partnerships and programs
internationally will find the guidance to be useful and be able to utilize the resources
provided in the document. Other such managing contractors and consultants involved in
aspects of the aid program management, universities involved in research and programs, and
regional and international organisations which involve people and communities in their work
will also find value in this practice note.
So let's begin our discussion on the practice note with Lucy Ledger who is here with me
today. Lucy works for CBM Australia as a Technical Advisor in Disability Inclusive
Development and is completing her Masters of Human Rights Law. Lucy's background is as
an Occupational Therapist working in community-based disability services with indigenous
populations in Australia. Following this, Lucy worked in Bangladesh for World Vision and
UNICEF, advising on disability inclusion within development programing. Welcome to
Lucy. Lucy will help to bring the practice note alive by sharing her experiences working in
disability inclusive development. She will provide a guided lesson on disability inclusive
development principles and practice based on the principles and approaches detailed in the
practice note. Today, we will walk through the 9 key principles outlined in the practice note.
So Lucy, over to you.
Thank you, Sophie. I'm excited to be here today to provide some practical insight into the
application of the practice note. I've been working with a variety of international and local
NGOs, multilateral and bilateral agencies, and disabled people's organisations for several
years now, assisting in the journey of these organisations towards disability inclusive
development, and it continues to be a really great privilege to witness the transformative
changes this brings in both the lives of people with disability as well as the organisations
themselves who commit to disability inclusive practice, so I'm really looking forward to
sharing some of these experiences and supporting growing your understanding of disability
inclusive development. As Sophie mentioned, there are 9 principles captured in the practice
note, and a number of suggested approaches for each principle. We will be following the
order of the principles and approaches as listed in the practice note, so you can follow with a
document in hand if you so wish. I'll be speaking from my own professional experiences in
disability inclusive development as well as drawing on existing resources to bring each of the
principles and relevant approaches to life. So let's get started!
Firstly, let's look at the principle: Nothing about us without us. This is critical to disability
inclusive practice and essentially means that people with disability must be included in all
aspects of development work which is related to their lives. It stands to reason that
development programs and projects undertaken across all sectors have relevance to
communities as a whole, and that basic community development principles include the
Transcribed by Type Transcripts – Online Audio Transcription Services
www.typetranscripts.com.au manager@typetranscripts.com.au
Page 4
ADDC Webinar - 8 December 2015
necessity of gender in consultation with community. That is because people with disability
are members of all communities. Development programs must ensure they are also including
their perspective. The practice note also mentions disabled people's organisations or DPOs in
section 3.4. These are a category of civil society organisations that represent people with
disability, and so they know and understand disability issues better than any other group.
When development organisations seek to work with DPOs, they are taking steps towards
working in a disability inclusive manner. As an example of this, in my work in Timor Leste,
I can see that an increasing number of government and non-government organisations are
now seeking partnerships from the local disabled people's organisations like Ra'es Hadomi
Timor Oan or RHTO. This reflects the growing understanding by these organisations that
there needs to be an intentional effort to address disability inclusion, and a need to respect
people with disabilities themselves as the holders of great expertise based on their lived
experience of disability. Hence, in the work I'm undertaking in the health sector in Timor, I
wanted to engage with RHTO in a long-term partnership to ensure the disability inclusiveness
of my work and that this disability inclusion was actually based on and influenced by the
lived experience of Timorese people with disability. However, I realised that the DPO
already had a very full agenda of advocacy and other program activity, and so not wanting to
over-burden them, I met with the DPO, discussed the potential work with them to provide the
DPO an opportunity to see if it would fit with their own priorities, and then negotiated to hire
an additional staff member at the DPO to support the disability inclusive health work with
additional time for the new DPO staff member to work on the DPO's own existing work
program. One resource that you will find useful to develop a better appreciation of DPOs in
the pacific region, but also to provide an indication of the variability and themes surrounding
DPO capacity strengthening, to which development organisations can support as part of a
disability inclusive approach, is the report Capacity Development for Effective and Efficient
Disabled People's Organisations in Pacific Island countries by the Pacific Disability Forum
and Australia Pacific Islands Disability Support. The link to this report is set out in the
references in the practice note. The report includes recommendations for DPOs and their
current and potential development partners and identifies some common perspectives and
shared principles that will help to make future collaborations feasible and effective. It also
highlights that effective DPOs are critical to the achievement of inclusive societies and
efficient economies. It's a great resource and you can find the link on the ADDC webpage.
The next principle is that approaches must be responsive and tailored to each cultural context.
So while the nothing about us without us principle recognizes the critical importance of
ensuring active participation of people with disability in all stages of development initiative,
it's important not to generalise the experience of people with disabilities across or even within
contexts. As development practitioners, we must take the time to understand the different
values and priorities of people with disabilities in different contexts. For example,
internationally it's understood that DPOs comprise people with disabilities themselves and
their primary purpose is to advocate for the rights of people with disabilities. However,
research has shown that in the collectivist societies of the pacific, the concept of separating
individuals from their families and communities and joining them together because of a
particular shared feature, in this case a disability, is a new and different approach for some.
While the research shows this issue was not significant in most countries, it is still a useful
reminder that cultural values in different contexts are highly relevant to the priorities and
ways that people with disabilities seek to progress inclusion. It's also important to recognise
that a variety of contextual factors in addition to culture, such as geography, weather, and
economy may influence the development of contextually relevant approaches to disability
inclusion. As this principle mentions, it is also important to consider how to approach
Transcribed by Type Transcripts – Online Audio Transcription Services
www.typetranscripts.com.au manager@typetranscripts.com.au
Page 5
ADDC Webinar - 8 December 2015
disability measurement. For example, on this slide, using Zambian statistics as an example,
you can see how asking a direct question about whether a person has a disability significantly
underestimates disability prevalence compared to using more holistic measures. Collecting
disability data shouldn't be an end in itself though. When planning to collect disability data,
understand why you're actually doing it, and how that data can be effectively used to promote
disability inclusion. For example, at the moment I'm working with a sexual and reproductive
health NGO to improve identification of clients with disabilities in their client registration
system, and the purpose of that is to ensure these individuals are then followed up to address
any barriers they may be experiencing accessing the service on an equal basis with people
without disability.
The third principle discussed in the practice note is that rights-based thinking is essential. For
many decades, support to people with disabilities has been delivered through medical or
charitable approaches, which can perceive people with disabilities as being apart from
mainstream society and needing to be fixed before integrating, or as being passive recipients
of aid who should be grateful for whatever assistance is extended their way. In contrast,
contemporary approaches use a social approach, which recognises that societies themselves
are responsible for the barriers which prevent people with disabilities from participating fully
in social and economic life. Aligned with the social approach, a rights-based approach
recognises the universal rights of all people and in particular the rights of people with
disabilities to be able to make choices, access the same services as all people, and participate
in economic and social life. This approach is comprehensively addressed in the Convention
on the Rights of People with Disability. To demonstrate the thinking that flows from
adopting a rights-based approach to disability, I'll now show you an example of applying the
approach to the way that a child with disability has interaction with the education system
would be conceived. Firstly, under old medical and charity-based thinking, and then under
rights-based thinking. So, as you can see on this slide, through the medical and charitable
disability approaches, the child with disabilities themselves is conceived of as the problem
when viewed through this lens, and then consequently labeled as being different from other
children, unresponsive, incapable of learning, in need of special environment and teachers,
and that they are incapable of even getting themselves to school in the first place. Evidently
this is a very negative way to view the child, and someone with this understanding would
think that disability-related interventions for inclusion should exclusively be targeted at
fixing the child themselves. In contrast, under the rights-based approach to disability, the
same issues surround the inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream education,
would be thought of in a very different way. As you can see from some of the issues
identified, such as teachers' attitude, lack of support for teachers and schools, rigid teaching
methods and curriculum, and inaccessible environments, the environment surrounding the
child and the education system is identified as the issue and the entry point for making
changes to affect disability inclusion. And in this case, some of the issues or barriers
identified here through application of the rights-based approach would be appropriate starting
points to developing strategies for disability inclusion. Hence, understanding the rights-based
approach to disability is important, as it will help direct you towards the types of strategies
you can undertake to promote disability inclusion.
The fourth principle is that of practising disability inclusion within your organisation.
Research undertaken in 2013 by CBM Australia with ANCP partner NGOs in Australia led
participants to identify that disability inclusion is not just a development programming issue,
but is relevant to all elements of an organisation's operation and culture, including its
corporate services and human resources functions, governance, communications, advocacy,
Transcribed by Type Transcripts – Online Audio Transcription Services
www.typetranscripts.com.au manager@typetranscripts.com.au
Page 6
ADDC Webinar - 8 December 2015
and fund raising. Disability inclusion can be a part of everyday work for all staff and ensures
that people with disabilities participate at all levels of an organisation as well as being
beneficiaries of development programs. Practising disability inclusion at an organisational
level also increases your credibility with partners and deepens your understanding about
appropriate strategies. An example of this principle in action comes from my time as a
disability inclusion advisor while based in a mainstream development organisation, that is a
non-disability organisation, in Bangladesh. I tried to pay heed to this principle by firstly
including all departments of the NGOs with programming and operational in introductory
disability inclusion training as a means of broadening the perspective of these departments
about the role they could play in disability inclusion in Bangladesh. On one occasion,
including the supply and procurement department in this training led to ongoing engagement
with them, this being an operational department that doesn't traditionally engage in disability
inclusion. The engagement led to the issuing of a supply directive that mandated greatly
improved practice in the way that the organisation sourced and provided assistive devices to
people with disabilities engaging in mainstream development programs. This meant that
potentially harmful practices as mass distributions of ill-fitting and dangerous assistive
devices were eliminated, and in turn meant that people with disabilities in program areas
were enabled to more readily engage in the organisation's core development program. This
story also relates to the twin track approach to disability inclusion, a principle that I'll outline
shortly.
The fifth principle is the commitment to learning and sharing experiences with others is
valuable. Regarding disability inclusive development, all organisations and development
workers need to be open to learning about what will work in different circumstances and how
best to achieve shared objectives, once they have been negotiated respectfully and
inclusively. Many organisations are new to the world of disability inclusion, so it's useful to
learn from others with more experience, through research, events, and networks organised by
ADDC for example. NGOs who are implementing methods to become more disability
inclusive can find ways to share their experiences with the development sector to contribute
to the inclusiveness of the sector as a whole, and to benefit other organisations and people
with disabilities in their communities other organisations operating to improving
understanding of effective disability inclusive practice. An example of this is Plan
International Australia and the CBM Australia-Nossal Institute partnership for disability
inclusive development efforts to share good practice examples and methods for disability data
collection with the development sector. They did this by funding the development and
publishing of a practice note on collecting and using data on disability to inform inclusive
development. Highlighting the positive impact of sharing experiences is that through these
organisations sharing their experience in disability inclusion in this way, they have
contributed to a broader conversation on how this data on disability can be collected and used
within programs to support both inclusive development practice and inclusive development
outcomes.
The sixth principle in the practice note is that gender equality issues are closely connected
with disability inclusion. This point was reinforced to me recently when I was interviewing
primary health providers in Timor Leste about their experiences of service provisions to
women with disability. A service provider noted that when she runs mobile health clinics,
she frequently noticed men with disability come for health checkups but not women with
disability, and we all know that there are usually no less women than men with disability
within a population. This brought home to me the factors impacting participation of people
with disabilities in development programs relate not only to their disability status, but their
Transcribed by Type Transcripts – Online Audio Transcription Services
www.typetranscripts.com.au manager@typetranscripts.com.au
Page 7
ADDC Webinar - 8 December 2015
gender as well, and failing to incorporate gender analysis within a disability inclusive
approach will not address all the issues that might impact differential participation of women
and girls and boys and men with disabilities. On this slide you can see statistics that highlight
just a few dimensions of the experience of women with disability compared to men with
disability or women without disability. For example, girls with disabilities are less likely to
attend school than boys with disabilities, and a significant majority of girls with a disability in
developing countries remain illiterate. This highlights how the intersecting statuses of being
a woman and being a person with disability makes unique experiences that reinforce that both
gender related and disability related initiatives must consider the experience of women with
disability.
The seventh principle is that key issues are often different for people with disabilities
depending on their age. People of different ages can have vastly different experiences of
impairment and disability. For example, children who are born deaf have substantially
different life experiences from adults who become hard of hearing in older age. You will
recall that we earlier considered the example of a child with disability and their inclusion in
the education system. When development efforts such as education programs are inclusive of
children with disabilities, the incredibly positive impact of this on the child's life course
cannot be underestimated. The alternative is exclusion from numerous life opportunities
across their life which highlights the importance of child focused development programs
being sensitive to the needs and rights of children with disability. We must also note that
elderly people with disabilities may experience disability in different ways to younger people
with disability. For example, the recent development of the minimum standards for age and
disability inclusion in humanitarian action while recognising the broader need for disability
inclusion in humanitarian responses, recognises the added vulnerability of elderly people with
disability in humanitarian situations.
The eighth principle is that of the twin-track approach. Use of a twin-tack approach in
disability inclusive development is essential. A twin-track approach is a combination of
targeted activities that enable people with disability to access information, public spaces,
education, employment, and so on, and mainstreaming efforts to ensure all projects that
include people actually include people with disability. I'd like now to show you a video that
narrates the life story and situation of a Bangladeshi woman with disability, Kazol. Kazol's
story provides you the opportunity to carefully think about and try to identify what activities
reflect targeted initiative and what activities reflect disability mainstreaming initiative in the
context of the disaster risk reduction project that Kazol describes. So keep this in mind and
make some notes during the video about what activities you think might belong in each of
these categories - targeted and mainstream. After the video has concluded, I'll share with you
my thoughts about this.
[video insert] My name is Kazol Rekha, and I am 23 years old. In 2003, I had an accident. I
fell off a chair, and one of my vertebrae slipped and severed my spinal cord. Now I am
paralysed. Before the accident, my life was good. I was living with my parents and going to
school. And then they both suddenly died. My brothers looked after me and arranged my
marriage. However, after my accident, my husband left me and remarried. It was difficult
and painful. I suffered a lot. Previously I was treated with affection by everyone in my
family. But that all changed. I was neglected and I became a burden to everyone. Life
became much better for me once I was given my wheelchair. I used to be totally dependent
on others, but now I can get out and move around. I received income generation training
Transcribed by Type Transcripts – Online Audio Transcription Services
www.typetranscripts.com.au manager@typetranscripts.com.au
Page 8
ADDC Webinar - 8 December 2015
from a local development agency in growing vegetables and rearing chickens and ducks, then
purchased a hand sewing machine, and now draw an income by tailoring garments for people
in my village. My house was modified to meet my basic needs such as sanitation, making
safe drinking water, and my lavatory accessible. It was also raised to reduce the impact of
the floods. When it comes to floods and other disasters, people with disabilities are
particularly vulnerable. There is generally widespread panic, and in many cases, a person
with a disability is forgotten and left behind. So now I am part of a disaster preparedness
committee, and we've made a list of all people with a disability in our area, and we can take
immediate steps to locate and evacuate them. I am also responsible for educating people
about hygiene and general health for when the waters hit, such as how to protect their food
against insects and contamination. Previously I was afraid of the prospect of flooding, but
now that we are prepared, I know what to do and I can face it. Now I am no longer a burden
to my family and I am proud that I am a valuable and contributing member of my
community.
I'm sure you'll agree that this is a great example of disability inclusive development. So I'll
share with you now the activities that I identified from the video and from some additional
background information about the project the video describes, in terms of how they reflect
the undertaking of both targeted activities and disability mainstreaming activities to
contribute to inclusive development. I won't have time to speak to all of the listed activities,
but they are here for your record. So for example, some of the targeted initiatives undertaken
include provision of assistive devices, development of a list of people with disabilities by the
local disaster preparedness committee to assist in evacuation planning, and provision of
coaching and mentoring to people with disabilities to raise their confidence and enable their
participation in local disaster preparedness committees. These targeted activities laid the
groundwork for and facilitated more active and full participation of people with disabilities in
regular program activities. That is, they permit disability mainstreaming. Some
mainstreaming activities described in the video were Kazol's inclusion in income generating
activity training and the disaster preparedness committee as well as ensuring wash
infrastructure provided through the project was accessible. The important thing to consider is
that if a particular mainstream development NGO is not in a position to undertake every one
of these targeted activities, they have a role to network with and find relevant partners who
can assist in implementing these to ensure that people with disabilities are not excluded from
participation in mainstream activities by virtue of their targeted needs being overlooked.
The ninth and final principle of the practice note is that disability inclusion needs to be
factored into program designs and budgets. As you can see from some of the examples of
practical disability inclusive actions that I've described in this presentation such as utilizing
the expertise of DPOs or ensuring wash infrastructure was accessible. Setting budget aside
for disability inclusion is important, and this need not be costly. In fact, research has found
that if for example accessibility features are included in the initial design of new buildings,
the cost is marginal, while if done later requiring retrofitting, the costs can be prohibitive.
Whilst I was conducting field research recently to facilitate the participation of women with
disability in focus group discussions, I budgeted for and arranged transport to be provided for
the women in acknowledgement that the nature of many of their impairments and the
surrounding environment made mobilizing to the focus group discussion venue difficult.
This very simple and low cost measure has ensured their voices will be heard in this research
project. In each context, and depending on the nature of the program, the particular location,
or existing capacity, budgeting for different items may be relevant. So one approach can be
Transcribed by Type Transcripts – Online Audio Transcription Services
www.typetranscripts.com.au manager@typetranscripts.com.au
Page 9
ADDC Webinar - 8 December 2015
to set a small budget line for disability inclusion or broader social inclusion and use this
flexibly and as needed throughout the project.
Well, thank you so much Lucy for taking us through the principles outlined in the practice
note. I think we all agree that you provided us with some great examples and insights into
the application of disability inclusive development principles and practices. Thank you for
sharing your lessons and bringing them to life. I'm sure you'll be able to take some of these
lessons away and apply them into your own practice and really we're starting to delve into a
lot of the discussion around how the principles can be applied, so thank you again.
Now to wrap up, if you don't already have a copy of the practice note, it is available on the
ADDC website at www.addc.org.au, and in particular, section 7 has some very useful tools
that you can make use of, and I would just like to highlight a couple for you now. So
DID4All is a website dedicated to providing resources and technical assistance on disability
inclusive development. It is funded by the Australian Government to promote disability
inclusive development, provide quality resources to the development sector, and help ensure
that the Australian Government funded development activities are inclusive of people with
disability. So you can find that at DID4All.com.au.
Inclusion Made Easy is another resource that is designed for program staff in international
development organisations. It is a brief, practical guide on how to ensure programs are
disability inclusive, and it offers basic inclusion principles, practical tips, and case study
examples. Part A focuses on disability inclusive development principles and part B on
disability inclusion across a range of development sectors.
The Australian Human Rights Commission also has information on their website around the
development of disability action plans, and this is to assist in taking steps for your
organisation to become more disability inclusive.
And of course, I can't finish without encouraging you, if you're not already, to become a
member of the Australian Disability and Development Consortium. We would love you to
join our network. It's free and you can join by completing a simple membership form on our
website. We send out a monthly bulletin and we also have a Facebook page and we're on
Twitter @ADDCnews, so you can keep up-to-date with the latest news in disability inclusive
development.
Now you've all been quite quiet out there, so we encourage you if you do have any questions,
we'd be more than happy to respond to those now, so we'll stay on standby if some questions
come through, but we really do hope you found this webinar useful, and thank you again for
your participation, and we look forward to future opportunities to share lessons and
experiences in disability inclusive development.
Hi Jane, it's Lucy, I'm not sure if you're still online, but I just saw your comment. It would be
really great to connect and talk about that. I think Elena and I would both be really interested
to chat, and I believe Elena may have had e-mail contact with you already, so we will have to
[inaudible] and make that contact happen.
Transcribed by Type Transcripts – Online Audio Transcription Services
www.typetranscripts.com.au manager@typetranscripts.com.au
Page 10