Monitoring the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

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Monitoring the UN Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities

• and the work of the Washington Group on
  Disability Statistics
• Mitchell Loeb
• National Center for Health Statistics, USA
• for the Washington Group on Disability Statistics

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The Washington Group on Disability Statistics (WG)

• In June of 2001, the UN International Seminar on
  the Measurement of Disability recommended the
  development of principles and standard forms for
  global indicators of disability to be used in
  censuses
• There was a broad consensus on the need for
  population based measures of disability for
  country use and for international comparisons

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The WG was set up to

• Foster international cooperation in the area of
  health and disability statistics
• Untangle the web of confusing and conflicting
  disability estimates
• Develop a short set of general disability
  measures
• Develop extended set/s of items to measure
  disability on population surveys
• Address methodological issues associated with
  disability measurement

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The ICF Model
Source World Health Organization, 2001
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Purpose Equalization of opportunities
Employed

• Seeks to identify all those at greater risk than
  the general population for limitations in
  participation
• Disability as a demographic

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WG questions for censuses

• Because of a Health problem
• Do you have difficulty seeing even if wearing
  glasses?
• Do you have difficulty hearing even if using a
  hearing aid?
• Do you have difficulty walking or climbing
  stairs?
• Do you have difficulty remembering or
  concentrating?
• Do you have difficulty with (self-care such as)
  washing all over or dressing?
• Using your usual (customary) language, do you
  have difficulty communicating (for example
  understanding or being understood by others)?
• Response categories
• No - no difficulty Yes - some difficulty
• Yes - a lot of difficulty Cannot do at all

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Intended use of data

• Compare levels of participation in employment,
  education, or family life for those with
  disability versus those without to see if persons
  with disability have achieved social inclusion
• Monitor effectiveness of programs / policies to
  promote full participation
• Monitor prevalence trends for persons with
  limitations in specific basic activity domains

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Can the WG questions be used to monitor the UN
Convention?

• UN Convention (2006) Persons with disabilities
  include those who have long-term physical,
  mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which
  in interaction with various barriers may hinder
  their full and effective participation in society
  on an equal basis with others.

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The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities

• represents an international milestone by
  acknowledging the shift in attitudes and
  approaches to persons with disabilities that have
  been evolving over the past few decades.
• recognizes that disability results from the
  interaction between persons with impairments and
  the barriers (both attitudinal and environmental)
  that hinder their full and effective
  participation in society on an equal basis with
  others.

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Applicability of the WG Questions to the UN
Convention

• The WG chose to develop questions that would
  address a specific aspect of the disablement
  process, the issue of whether persons with
  disability participate to the same extent as
  persons without disabilities in activities such
  as education, employment or family/civic life, in
  other words, the equalization of opportunities.

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The equalization of opportunities

• is one of the general principles listed in
  Article 3 of the Convention (General principles)
  and the focus of Article 5 (Equality and
  Non-discrimination).
• is also relevant to the collection of data for
  policy purposes outlined in Article 31
  (Statistics and data collection) and will
  facilitate the monitoring of participation in
  cultural life, leisure, and recreation (Article
  30), and work employment (Article 27).

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How to Use the WG Questions to Monitor the UN
Convention (I)

• In order to address the equalization of
  opportunities for persons with disabilities it is
  necessary to identify those who are at greater
  risk than the general population of experiencing
  limited participation in society.
• The recommended short set of questions will
  identify the majority of the population with
  difficulties in functioning in basic actions
  difficulties that have the potential to limit
  independent living or social integration if
  appropriate accommodation is not made.

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How to Use the WG Questions to Monitor the UN
Convention (II)

• Coupled with other information collected through
  the Census or survey on, for example, employment,
  education, or family social life, these
  questions can be used to identify those at risk
  and compare the levels of participation between
  those with disability and those without and
  thereby assess equitable access to opportunities
  as mandated by the UN Convention.

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For example

• Data on difficulty in performing basic actions
  can be cross-classified with a measure of
  employment to identify the proportion of persons
  with and without disability who are employed.
• This is an assessment of the equality of
  employment opportunities.
• If policy interventions are initiated to enhance
  workplace accommodations, the effect on
  employment of persons with disability can be
  determined.

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For example

• In addition to employment, it will be important
  to collect data on a variety of forms of
  participation, such as education, housing,
  transportation, social and health services, in
  addition to aspects of family, cultural and
  social life.
• From a theoretical perspective, if opportunities
  have been optimized, then participation should be
  equal between persons with and without
  disability.

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Standardized Approach to Monitoring the UN
Convention

• By standardizing these questions it will be
  possible to provide comparable data
  cross-nationally for populations living in a
  variety of cultures with varying economic
  resources
• data that can be used to assess a countrys
  compliance with the UN Convention and, over time,
  their improvement in meeting the requirements set
  out under the Convention.

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Access to Education and Employment by Disability
Status
never attended school (6 years or older) never attended school (6 years or older) not working (15 65 years) not working (15 65 years)
Determination of Disability Not disabled Disabled Not disabled Disabled
Cut-off is
at least 1 domain is some 8.2 22.8 42.3 49.4
at least 1 domain is a lot 8.8 23.3 41.9 55.3
at least 1 domain is unable 9.8 37.2 42.7 71.7
gt 1 domain is some difficulty 9.5 24.7 42.6 58.0
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Access to Education and Employment by Disability
Status over time
An example from Zambia Disability status Disability status Disability status Disability status
2006 2006 2009 2009
Not disabled Disabled Not disabled Disabled

never attended school (6 years or older) 8.8 23.3 8.2 16.9
not working (15 65 years) 41.9 55.3 39.1 47.6