CBM position paper on the post-2015 Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) global framework
1. CBM’s position on a post-2015 framework: Content and process
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
A revision of the current understanding and definition of poverty,
progress and development beyond material living standards alone
(income, consumption and wealth)1.
A framework that addresses causal explanations of poverty and
promotes agency rights and equality for people with disabilities2.
Disability-inclusive development that adopts a human rights-based
approach adhering to the principles of empowerment, participation,
equality and non-discrimination, with a focus on the poorest, most
excluded groups, such as people with disabilities3.
Disaggregation of data4 and the collection of new datasets on
disability can be used as an evidence base for global comparisons as
well as monitoring against any new nationally set targets and
indicators.
National governance and ownership in any new structures or
institutional arrangements. The involvement and participation of
people with disabilities through deliberative processes that take into
account the context and starting point of each country’s
circumstances; the strengthening of accountability processes and
mechanisms that are accessible to people with disabilities5.
Any new global partnerships on poverty reduction have a more
equitable relationship and mainstream disability in their
international cooperation efforts6.
A revision of overseas development assistance (in terms of
financing channels and mechanisms, accountability contracts for
donors and ‘beyond aid’ approaches) to include disability markers
identifying the percentage spend for disability-inclusive development7.
CBM working paper on the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) global framework: March 2012, subject to revision.
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2. The context: Poverty, disability and development
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
Disability is both a cause and consequence of poverty, yet
international policy-makers and stakeholders have not recognised or
prioritised this issue within international development efforts such as
the MDGs8.
Fifteen per cent of the world’s population are people with disabilities
– over one billion people9, of whom 80 per cent live in developing
countries10.
The current MDGs have given rise to distortions of national
progress by focusing on percentages and non-universal cover rather
than targeting and changing the situation of the poorest people,
including those with disabilities11.
Across the world, people with disabilities have poorer health, lower
educational achievements, less economic participation and higher
rates of poverty and inequality than people without disabilities12.
The MDGs are framed by conventional ideas of development that
have not recognised the importance of inequality in poverty
reduction13.
The shifting global distribution of poverty means that 72 per cent
of the world’s poorest people (800 million) now live in middle-income
countries (MICs), and most of those in stable MICs14, which are not the
main recipients of overseas development assistance.
CBM reducing poverty-related diseases:
CBM works with its partners to tackle a group of poverty-related diseases,
including the neglected tropical diseases15 (NTDs). Globally NTDs affect 1.4
billion of the poorest people and another 2 billion people are at risk. Because
of their adverse affects on child development, maternal morbidity and worker
productivity, the NTDs have a major impact on poverty16.
3. Emerging Issues on the post-2015 MDG agenda
Since the Millennium Declaration, the global context in relation to poverty
and development has changed significantly. Three key areas which are
currently emerging in global post-2015 MDG debates are summarised below:
increasing inequality, climate change and urbanisation. These issues
are also framed by the global economic and debt crisis.
4. Inequality and global justice
4.1
4.2
Inequality affects all countries, rich or poor, and arguably mediates
poverty and wellbeing to a greater extent than growth does17.
Intra-country inequalities have widened18, of which people with
disabilities are disproportionately represented19. Social protection
mechanisms can provide safeguards for the most marginalised
people20.
CBM working paper on the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) global framework: March 2012, subject to revision.
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4.3
4.4
4.5
Most of the world’s poor have shifted from low-income countries to
middle-income countries21. The global burden of malnutrition,
disease and mortality are middle-income concentrated22.
Key explanations for escaping from poverty are largely a) equity
related, for example, changes in employment, land ownership and
education; b) related to social exclusion and discrimination; and c)
linked to location in remote or otherwise disadvantaged areas23.
High inequality can inhibit growth, discourage institutional
development towards accountable government and undermine civic
and social life leading to conflict24 and undermine human rights.
CBM, inequality and global justice:


All of CBM’s work is underpinned by disability-inclusive development.
Estimates of the number of people with severe disabilities, a key group for
CBM’s work, vary between 110 million and 190 million25.
CBM advocates for inclusive development to improve the quality of lives
for people with disabilities. It recognises the importance of other
existing inequalities such as gender, age (children26 and older
people), race, ethnicity, or HIV status etc.27 and their impact on the lives
of people with disabilities that can lead to multiple discrimination.
5. Climate change
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
The impacts of climate change (extreme weather, sea level changes
and agriculture productivity changes, leading to food insecurity) will
affect the world’s poorest people28.
Higher food prices due to climate change combined with urbanisation
trends will lead to more households being net food consumers, this too
will affect (urban) poor people more29.
Most of the world’s poor (800 million) live in ten countries, six of
which are listed in the top 20 countries30 most at risk of extreme
weather in 2015: China, India, the Philippines, Vietnam (middleincome countries) and Bangladesh and Ethiopia (low incomecountries).
Any new agreement must address climate change, sustainable
consumption, climate resilient development and the protection of
people with disabilities in situations of risk and humanitarian
emergencies31.
Climate change and CBM:



In 2010, CBM’s partners provided services to over half a million people in
situations of risk and humanitarian emergency.
CBM works in all of the six countries where both the poorest people and
those most at risk of extreme weather live.
CBM has worked in partnership to ensure people with disabilities are
included in food security emergency response programmes in the horn of
Africa where over 4.5 million people are in need of assistance from the
worst droughts experienced in the last 60 years.
CBM working paper on the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) global framework: March 2012, subject to revision.
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6. Linking climate change and urbanisation
As the effects of climate change force people to move in search of food and
water, migration or dislocation may increase. Significant numbers of people
relocate, especially from rural to urban areas, for example people moving from
the Sahel zone of West Africa to coastal areas, due to regular crop failures in
their home regions32. There are an estimated 3.5 million refugees and internally
displaced people with disabilities worldwide33.
7. Urbanisation
7.1
7.2
7.3
7.4
7.5
7.6
7.7
High rates of overall population growth, together with significant rural–
urban migration, have contributed to rapid urbanisation and related
unplanned expansion of low-income settlements on the outskirts of
many large cities34.
In sub-Saharan Africa two-thirds of urban dwellers live in low-income
settlements35.
Worldwide, approximately 900 million people live in low-income
settlements, of which approximately 135 million could be people
with disabilities36.
Those living in urban low-income settlements lack improved water,
sanitation, and durable housing, all three are harder to access for
people with disabilities.
Environmental conditions such as indoor air pollution from cooking
fires and atmospheric pollution in urban areas lead to chronic
respiratory diseases and a heightened risk of tuberculosis, which is a
significant cause of disability37.
With greater reliance on the monetised economy, urban populations
depend on integration into informal employment markets to earn
cash income to meet their ongoing consumption needs38.
The rate of economic inactivity is 2.5 times higher amongst
people with disabilities39.
Urbanisation, CBM and the rural question:
CBM advocates for disability-inclusive development in both urban and rural
areas. Urbanisation is a critical issue for the post-2015 MDG agenda, however,
most poor people (70%) still live in rural areas40. CBM remains committed to
working for the rights of people with disabilities in both rural and urban areas.
For more information please contact Diane Mulligan, the Coordinator of
International Advocacy and Alliances for CBM: diane.mulligan@cbm.org
CBM working paper on the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) global framework: March 2012, subject to revision.
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Explanatory notes and references:
Progress on poverty and development has traditionally been measured by income and wealth,
how much money a person or family has to spend on their necessities such as food, housing,
health, education and services. This way of measuring poverty does not capture the more complex
situation and challenges of people living in poverty, neither does it explain the phenomenon of
chronic poverty where very a number of poor families never escape poverty and their children are
born into poverty that is almost impossible to leave, so called ‘generational poverty’. New research
and methods on measuring poverty and development is being tested, which takes into
consideration non-economic aspects of people’s lives such as access to education and health,
social connections, housing, and political participation and governance, environmental conditions
(current and future), personal security, economic insecurity and personal activity and work.
1
The MDGs have been heavily criticised for not addressing the root causes of poverty. Human
rights were not a focus, and the equality aspect that was fundamental in the Millennium
Declaration was never translated into the MDGs targets and indicators. A new framework has to
address poverty as a matter of human rights and equality and universally target also the most
excluded groups of the population, including persons with disabilities. The UN Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities (the Disability Convention) promotes active and meaningful
participation through the right to education (article 24), the right to health (article 25), the right to
work and employment (article 27), and the right to adequate standards of living and social
protection (article 28). People with disabilities have to be active agents of their own change and
this should be one of the references that underline any framework coming out of the post-2015
process. Article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights also clearly links human rights
with poverty reduction and development.
2
Comprehensive accessibility for people with disabilities would need to be integral to a human
rights-based approach, namely: physical, communication, policy and attitudinal barriers are all
identified and addressed. Additionally, a human rights-based approach would serve to highlight
areas neglected by the MDGs, such as equal access to justice (article 13 of the Disability
Convention), the rule of law (article 12 of the Disability Convention) and democratic governance
(article 29 of the Disability Convention: the right to participation in political and public life; as well
as notions of entitlements and accountability into the development process.
3
Inclusive Development happens when the entire community, including people with disabilities,
benefit equally from development processes. Inclusive development encourages awareness of, and
participation by, all marginalised groups. Disability-inclusive development adopts a twin-track
approach. It should support the capacity of people with disabilities to claim their rights and
concern and to be politically involved, to hold governments and donors accountable, as well as
ensuring that development programmes in health, education, employment, social protection,
environment and humanitarian aid do not discriminate against people with disabilities and equally
benefit from the outcomes. Article 32 of the Disability Convention makes signatory countries
obliged to adopt inclusive development to achieve equality of human rights for people with
disabilities as well as full participation in, and access to, all aspects of society.
Article 31 of the Disability Convention states that countries that have ratified the Disability
Convention will collect statistics and data about people with disabilities and disseminate it in
accessible formats. To collect disability-aggregated data means to identify and include people with
disabilities when collecting data at local, national and international level. Indicators need to be
defined that take into account the situation of people with disabilities, women and girls, men and
boys, elderly, rural and urban population, indicators in gender, age, geographic location etc. The
current MDGs target, goals and indicators do not specify data on disability and it is imperative that
a new framework does so. This will ensure that disability becomes visible in statistics, and ensure
evidence-based programming and policies. International agreement on indicators and systems of
data collection is vital if global comparisons are to be made in order to measure progress.
4
Any new global partnerships are more balanced in terms of their relationships and accountability
between donor countries and developing countries. Currently donor countries hold the balance of
power, and developing countries rarely hold them to account. National governments have to be
involved and take the ownership of any new global framework replacing the MDGs. The lack of
ownership of developing countries has been another major criticism of the MDGs, as the targets
have not taken into account the specific context of each country, there was no national baseline to
measure against and most governments in low-income countries were not involved in defining the
5
CBM working paper on the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) global framework: March 2012, subject to revision.
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MDG targets. Clear ownership and participation of developing countries will strengthen the
accountability and responsibility of the national governments towards its people. At the same time,
national governments need to put in place people-centred development strategies, where both
elected representatives, parliamentarians and civil society participate in consultations and
discussion on any new development framework. People with disabilities and their organisations
must have access to on-going post-2015 consultations, dialogues and meetings at local, national
and international levels for discussing different forms of development mechanisms. This means
that information have to be provided in accessible format such as Braille, audio and easy-read;
meeting venues should be accessible, consultations and dialogues should be held at both urban
and rural locations and budget should be available to facilitate participation of people with
disabilities.
The Disability Convention is the only international human rights instrument to have an article on
international cooperation, article 32, which provides a comprehensive normative framework for
mainstreaming disability in the development agenda. Countries that have ratified the Disability
Convention will ensure that international cooperation, including international development
programmes, is inclusive of, and accessible to people with disabilities. Article 32 states that
countries that have ratified the Disability Convention should make their development cooperation
programmes (including aid, debt, trade, tax, corporate regulation and accountability, fiscal policy
and foreign policy support to national, regional and global human rights mechanisms, diplomatic
support, and military assistance) inclusive of and accessible for persons with disabilities. Global
agreements, such as the MDGs, or other development frameworks should mainstream disability
and measure outcomes based on indicators that take into account persons with disabilities’ rights.
The UN Resolution “Realising the Millennium Development Goals for Persons with Disability”
(A/RES/64/131) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2010 explicitly commits to the
inclusion of, and accessibility for, persons with disabilities in MDG policies and programmes.
6
Overseas development assistance (ODA) is the aid and part of loans provided by the OECD
(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) member countries. These are official
financing mechanisms from governmental donor agencies and specific loans destined for economic
development and welfare in developing countries or to multilateral institutions (such as UN
agencies, the World Bank, and others). Until now it is not possible to track how much of this
assistance that reaches persons with disabilities, either as mainstream aid or disability-specific
initiatives. A revision of the current development schemes is likely to take place and new
mechanisms and strategies for aid need to include disability markers, so that development
interventions can be assessed in terms of the contribution they make to equal opportunities for
people with disabilities and strengthening of their rights.
7
Based on the social and human rights model of disability enshrined in the Disability Convention
disability is defined as the negative interaction between impairment and environmental barriers.
This can be used to explain the negative cycle of disability and poverty. People with disabilities
have limited access to health care and education; have difficulty finding employment; face high
levels of stigma and discrimination and are commonly denied their rights. These factors all
contribute to economic vulnerability and social exclusion. In turn, poor households rarely have
access to adequate food, shelter, hygiene and sanitation facilities, potable water, and preventive
health care services; characteristics known to exacerbate poverty and increase the risks of
disability. The MDGs and other international development efforts have failed so far to address this
negative cycle even though it can affect up to 15 per cent of the population in developing
countries.
8
World Health Organization and World Bank (2011) World Report on Disability. Geneva: WHO
Press.
9
10World
Bank. Disability and Poverty: a Survey of World Bank Poverty Assessments and
Implications’. Jeanine Braithwaite and Daniel Mont, SP discussion paper No. 0805, World Bank,
February 2008.
The MDGs measure progress based on an average percentage and does in fact not target all
people living in poverty as it aims only to halve the population living on poverty. They leave out
close to a billion people of the most poor, including those with disabilities. When looking at the
MDG indicators, they are consistently worse for disadvantaged groups in each region (Kabeer, N.,
2010, Can the MDGs provide a pathway to social justice? The challenge of intersecting inequalities,
IDS/UN MDG Achievement Fund). Various proposals for measuring progress based on equality are
11
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(MDGs) global framework: March 2012, subject to revision.
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being discussed, and there is a need to base them on national targets and contexts and be
universal in their coverage, thus forcing to measure progress also among excluded groups.
Persons with disabilities face additional challenges to access basic services such as health care
(curative and preventive), education (World Health Organization and World Bank (2011) World
Report on Disability. Geneva: WHO Press. p. 225) and formal and informal employment and
livelihood opportunities, due to discrimination, lack of comprehensive accessibility and continuing
stigmatisation. The reasons are complex but can be comprehensively addressed with an inclusive
development approach. A school that is accessible for children with disabilities is more childfriendly and increase access for children in general and a health care centre that makes their
prevention program fully accessible also for women and children with disabilities will reach as well
other marginalised groups. Of an estimated 650 million people with disabilities, 470 million are of
working age (International Labour Organisation). They are more likely to be unemployed or earn
less than non-disabled people and be in jobs with poor promotional prospects and working
conditions, especially if they are women. Many work in the unprotected, informal economy.
12
Development in the MDGs largely reflects a basic needs agenda, but has failed to integrate the
wider dynamic of human development, especially growth and employment, human rights,
empowerment and dignity. As development has been primarily based on measuring income
poverty, the economic growth has often been elite driven while unemployment has increased hand
in hand with raising inequalities in many societies. “New” issues such as trade and transfer of
technology as well as migration were not defined in the MDGs but are important for development.
The MDGs focus on basic needs while recent understanding of poverty defined by poor people
themselves is more dynamic and not only income related but also concerns assets, what people
have in order to protect themselves against risk and economic shocks and/or climate related
disasters etc. While employment is part of the MDG targets, it has not been the focus of most
donors while poor people themselves as a priority often mention it.
13
Sumner, A. & Tiwari, M. (2011) Global Poverty Reduction to 2015 and Beyond. Journal of Global
Policy.
14
There has been a shift in the number of countries classified as low-income countries. In 1990,
more than 90% of the population classified as poor lived in low-income countries, while today
more than 70% live in middle-income countries (Sumner, A. (2011) Poverty in Middle-Income
Countries, Bellagio Initiative, IDS: Brighton). Several countries have shifted their status from lowincome to middle income due to a rise in average per capita income, which certainly does not
mean that all people living in these countries have seen an increase in the income. The Gross
Domestic Income as measurement of poverty masks inequalities within the country itself. What it
suggests though is that more poor people live today in countries that receive less official foreign
aid and assistance due to their higher domestic revenues. With less access to, and perhaps
interest in, traditional aid and with inequality on the rise, there is a concern of how these countries
will address the rights of their population living in poverty and which position international
cooperation should take in the post-2015 discussions to respond to this new situation. Some post2015 debates indicate that these countries will most probably be less interested in traditional aid
such as resource transfer, and more interested in improving trade policies, remittance policies and
climate negotiations.
Parasitic and bacterial infections, namely: three soil transmitted helminthiasis (ascariasis,
hookworm infections, and trichuriasis), lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, dracunculiasis (guineaworm disease), schistosomiasis, Chagas’ disease, human African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis,
Buruli ulcer, leprosy, and trachoma.
15
In addition, the disease burden of NTDs is more than double that caused by tuberculosis. Hotez,
PJ. Kamath, A. Neglected Tropical Diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa: Review of Their Prevalence,
Distribution, and Disease Burden. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 3(8).
16
Vandemoortele, J. (2011) The MDG Story Intention Denied: Development and Change.
Development and Change, Vol. 42, (1), pp. 1-21. The Hague.
17
The MDGs are consistently worse for disadvantaged groups in all regions and there is evidence
that inequalities harms not only growth, but also contributes to insecurity and violence, mental
illness, and political unrest. Social exclusion and its resulting inequalities are not only rooted in
denial of people’s social and economic rights but also to lack of political participation and having a
CBM working paper on the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) global framework: March 2012, subject to revision.
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voice in decision-making. Political and civil rights should be placed on a par with economic and
social rights in any new global development framework, which has to focus on equality and human
rights if to achieve social justice and fight poverty among the poorest. Together with decent
livelihood opportunities it can lead to better wellbeing. (Kabeer, N. (2010) Can the MDGs provide a
pathway to social justice? The challenge of intersecting inequalities. IDS and UN MDG Achievement
Fund: New York).
Palma, J.G. (2011) Homogeneous Middles vs. Heterogeneous Tails, and the End of the
‘Inverted-U’: It's All About the Share of the Rich. Development and Change, Vol. 42, (1), pp. 87153. The Hague.
18
20.7 per cent of people in the poorest quintile of both lower and higher income countries have
disabilities; 18 per cent of all people in lower income countries have disabilities; and 20 per cent of
all people in the poorest three quintiles of lower income countries have disabilities: World Health
Organization and World Bank (2011) World Report on Disability. Geneva: WHO Press p. 28.
19
Inequalities within countries have increased during the last decade, meaning that the differences
in income and social inclusion between reach and poor has widened. The small groups of rich and
powerful elites have increased significantly their wealth compared to people living in poverty. With
increasing challenges for decent employment and the fact that a number of marginalised families
might never get opportunity for decent jobs for various reasons, such as chronic illness, high
dependency disabilities, or forced migration, social protection mechanisms are crucial. Social
protection is a set of interventions that should improve or protect human capital, such as labour
market interventions (labour law and wage setting), social insurance (pension, un-employment
support, family benefits, sick-pay) or social assistance (cash transfer and subsidise, disability
insurance or specific support to marginalised groups) with the aim to assist individual and families
to better manage risks, take risks for improving and provide safeguard during economic crisis.
Article 28 of the Disability Convention describes social protection, which should be interpreted
together with the General Principles in article 3.
20
Sumner, A. and Tiwari, M. (2011) ‘Global Poverty Reduction to 2015 and Beyond’, Journal of
Global Policy.
21
See Kanbur, R. and Sumner, A. (2011) Poor Countries or Poor People? Development Assistance
and the New Geography of Global Poverty. Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and
Management Working Paper, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University; and also Glassman, A., Duran, D. &
Sumner, A. (2011) Global Health and the New Bottom Billion. Center for Global Development
(CGD) Working Paper, Washington, DC: CGD.
22
Many of the world’s poor live in countries that have got richer in terms of average per capita and
as a result reclassified by the World Banks as middle income countries (MICs). Since 2000, 28
countries have been classified as middle-income countries and 707 million poor people now live in
these countries. Despite the economic growth, the absolute numbers of poor people have not
decreased sufficiently in these new MICs, which is why the majority of population facing
malnutrition, disease and increased mortality today is present in MICs, where development
assistance is not a priority.
Dercon, S. & Shapiro, J. (2007) Moving On, Staying Behind, Getting Lost: Lessons on Poverty
Mobility from Longitudinal Data. Economic and Social Research Council Global Poverty Working
Group, Paper 75.
23
When talking about equity measures to escape poverty, it refers to ensure decent work
opportunities with fair wages, fair distribution of land along all groups of the population and access
to quality education for all. Discrimination and social exclusion needs to be actively combated
through a human rights-based framework and equal opportunities and affirmative action for people
with disabilities (and other marginalised groups) to access employment and other services should
be considered. A focus on investing in services and opportunities in disadvantaged areas or
locations at risk is a matter of equity.
Birdsall, N. (2006) ‘Income Distribution: Effects on Growth and Development’ - Working Paper
118; Center for Global Development, Washington.
24
In societies where inequalities are high, where there is a big gap in living standards between rich
and poor, social and economic growth can be hindered. Inequalities can be related to differences in
incomes and the distribution of the resources of a country, but it goes also hand in hand with
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barriers to political and civil participation of socially excluded groups and the development
outcomes of a country are not equally distributed.
The cultural dynamics of social exclusion relate to the norms and beliefs that define some groups
of society as inferior, which, apart from promoting discriminatory attitudes also erode selfconfidence and feeling of self-worth among these households and can lead to frustration and
despair. Increase in crime and substance abuse is also linked to social exclusion, which in turn can
lead to more insecurity and violence. Economic dynamics of exclusion is linked to discriminatory
policies to distribution of productive assets (such as owning land) and livelihood opportunities,
where dangerous and low-status jobs often are pre-determined for the poor.
This is a brief explanation to that the advancement of the MDGs related to health, education and
employment are being significantly worse for the most excluded and poor groups in society.
Socially excluded and marginalised populations logically seldom have trust in governmental
institutions and therefore formal democratic governance is not sufficient to tackle persistent and
long-term exclusion and poverty. Any new global framework therefore needs to have a clear focus
on equality and social justice and its intersecting dynamics.
World Health Organization and World Bank (2011) World Report on Disability. Geneva: WHO
Press, p. 29.
25
There are 93 - 150 million children with disabilities under 15 years of age worldwide (World
Health Organization and World Bank (2011) World Report on Disability. Geneva: WHO Press, p
262).
26
While equally at risk of HIV/AIDS, for a variety of reasons, people with disabilities do not have
equal access to HIV information, education and prevention services. UNAIDS (2009) Disability and
HIV Policy Brief.
27
Eighty per cent of the 300 million people who live within 5 meters of sea level are in developing
countries. Climate change can be described as “any change in climate over time, whether due to
natural variability or as a result of human activity” IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change) and there is already evidence of weather changes affecting food security and forcing
migration. Many poor people live in areas that are at risk for important changes due to climate
change, such as increase of the sea level, flooding due to living on flood banks, and low-income
settings in urban areas are more prone to be affected by heavy rainfall or lack of portable water.
28
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Debate on Sea-Level Rise: Critical Stakes for
Poor Countries: February 2, 2007. http://blogs.cgdev.org/globaldevelopment/2007/02/the-ipccdebate-on-sea-level-r.php (accessed 13 February 2012).
Skoufias, E., Rabassa, M. & Olivieri, O. (2011) The Poverty Impacts of Climate Change: A
Review of the Evidence, Policy Research Working Paper 5622, The World Bank.
29
Prices of food have already increased threefold since the end of 2000, and might increase further
partly due to climate change. Increased stress on water resources, which affects crop production
and can increase diseases linked to hygiene, a higher frequency of extreme weather shocks that
increase droughts and flooding, especially in Asia and several African countries where a large part
of poor people live today. With more people moving from rural areas into urban cities due to
economic opportunities and possible due to climate change effects, an increased number of people
will depend on consumption of food rather than household production, and poor people in lowincome urban settings will be more affected by increasing food prices.
Middle-income countries (China, India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Honduras, Thailand,
Zambia) and low-income countries (Kenya, Somalia, Mozambique, Bangladesh, Djibouti, Ethiopia,
Bolivia, Cuba, Madagascar, Colombia, Zimbabwe). UNHABITAT 2010.
30
Any new global framework has to involve the people that will be most affected by climate
change, thus the participation of people with disabilities in climate-resilient development plans,
disaster risk reduction strategies and urban planning is crucial. While there is an urgent need for a
global agreement on reducing the negative effects on the climate, it is crucial to react and adapt to
the already existing effects of climate change. People that are and will be affected most by climate
change need to be involved in finding solutions and adaptations, including people with disabilities
who will be among the groups that are at higher risks for food insecurity and emergencies.
31
Sustainable consumption in the Oslo definition refers to: “the use of services and related products
which respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life while minimizing the use of natural
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resources and toxic materials as well as emissions of waste and pollutants over the life cycle of the
service or product so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations”. In addition, it often
includes sustainable production. (Oslo Roundtable on Sustainable Production and Consumption,
http://www.iisd.ca/consume/oslo004.html)
Climate-resilient development is to integrate the adaptations to climate change in the general
development framework. Climate cannot be a stand-alone topic and measures to adapt have to be
integrated with other development challenges.
Persons with disabilities will face additional challenges due to climate change, and are adversely
affected in situations of risks and humanitarian emergencies. Article 11 of the Disability
Convention states that protection and safety have to be provided for people with disabilities during
emergencies, disasters and risks. Inclusive disaster preparedness and management, and climate
resilient reconstruction is crucial, while adopting a twin-track approach to make sure that specific
needs of persons with disabilities are met.
Brauch, H. G. (2002) Climate Change and Conflict Prevention. German Federal Ministry for the
Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).
32
Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children (2008) Disabilities among Refugees and
Conflict-Affected Populations: Resource Kit for Fieldworkers. NY: Women’s Commission for
Refugee Women and Children.
33
The world population is today estimated to be 7 billion and the highest growth rate is taking
place in poor countries that already struggle with providing services to their people. These
countries also experience an important migration from rural to urban areas as well as inter-country
migration. Cities in low- and middle-income countries are expanding rapidly and there are huge
challenges with urban planning, which leads to many low-income settlements in the outskirts of
the cities, with poor infrastructure, lack of quality health and education services, largely
inaccessible, and where people mostly find jobs in the informal market. Although the number of
people living in low-income settlements in urban areas is declining in incidence, it is rising in
absolute numbers. The proportion is highest in sub-Saharan Africa where two-thirds of urban
dwellers are living in low-income settlements; the number of people living in low-income
settlements in this region has nearly doubled over the period 1990-2010: UNHABITAT 2010.
34
Sumner, A. (2012) A post-2015 global framework: key issues, criteria and options. Institute of
Development Studies at the University of Sussex (unpublished: commissioned research by CBM).
35
http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/Slumdwellers-complete.pdf quotes 900 million
people, of which up to fifteen per cent (see World Health Organization and World Bank (2011)
World Report on Disability. Geneva: WHO Press.) could be people with disabilities.
36
For persons with disabilities and their families, this phenomenon equally has a challenging impact.
In some situations, persons with disabilities might be left behind in rural areas with less family
support, or if migrating to safer areas with more opportunities, they often face challenges in poor
quality settlements where access to basic services becomes an important obstacle. On the other
hand, migration could lead to new opportunities also for persons with disabilities, with closer
access to services and education as well as labour opportunities.
European Commission (2007) Environmental Integration Handbook for EC Development
Cooperation.
37
When people move from rural areas to urban settlements, the ones that used to rely on
agriculture for its living, and also for part of its income become instead dependent upon on jobs in
the service or urban production sector. Most people start out, or even end up in the informal
sector, as street vendors, working as domestic employees, or day labourers, and do not benefit
from any social protection scheme. This makes them more vulnerable to meet their daily needs for
food and basic services in case of illness or unemployment. In addition, many low-income
settlements in several countries are not recognised, and even considered ‘illegal’, which will need
to be addressed in post-2015 debates.
38
World Health Organization and World Bank (2011) World Report on Disability. Geneva: WHO
Press.
39
40
http://www.ifad.org/rpr2011 (accessed 13 February 2012).
CBM working paper on the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) global framework: March 2012, subject to revision.
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