U.S. National Council on Disability Recommends Inclusive Foreign Policy
Editor's Note: In September, the NCD issued a full report with a historic overview of foreign policy and disability, analysis of the current situation and recommendations, available on its website: www.ncd.gov What is extracted here is the letter of transmittal to the President by NCD Chair Lex Frieden and the summary of the report's recommendations.
National Council on Disability
September 9, 2003
Letter of Transmittal
September 9, 2003
The President
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
On behalf of the National Council on Disability (NCD), I am submitting a report entitled Foreign Policy and Disability: Legislative Strategies and Civil Rights Protections To Ensure Inclusion of People with Disabilities. This report is a follow-up to NCD's 1996 Foreign Policy and Disability report that found continued barriers to access for people with disabilities in U.S. foreign assistance programs.
In the 1996 report, NCD recommended a series a policy changes to ensure inclusion of people with disabilities in all foreign assistance programs, including the establishment of specific objectives for inclusion with a time-table for their fulfillment. Seven years later, NCD has concluded that inclusion of people with disabilities in U.S. foreign policy will only be achieved when specific legislation is enacted to achieve that purpose. This report reviews a number of models that Congress has adopted for linking human rights and foreign policy that can be adapted to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities. This report looks primarily at the U. S. Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Among the various strategies and approaches to improve foreign assistance policies and practices, NCD recommends that Congress amend the Foreign Assistance Act to ensure inclusion of people with disabilities in all U.S. programs by requiring every U.S. agency operating abroad to operate in a manner that is accessible and inclusive of people with disabilities. NCD recommends that this be accomplished by, among other reforms, amending the Foreign Assistance Act to create a Disability Advisor at the State Department and creating an office on Disability and Development at USAID.
NCD also calls on your Administration to recognize that all U.S. government operations abroad should be brought into compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The principles of non-discrimination, access, and inclusion of people with disabilities have been established as civil rights. The reforms discussed in this report are needed to ensure that people with disabilities can fully contribute to U.S. foreign policies and programs abroad as they have done so effectively at home.
Sincerely,
Lex Frieden
Chairperson
Acknowledgments
The National Council on Disability (NCD) wishes to express its appreciation to Eric Rosenthal, Executive Director, Mental Disability Rights International and Professor Arlene Kanter, Syracuse University College of Law, who conducted research and coauthored this report. NCD would also like to acknowledge the contributions of Einat Hurwitz, New Israel Fund Fellow and LLM student at the Washington College of Law who contributed to writing this report.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
More than 600 million people, almost 10 percent of the world's population, have a disability. This number will rise dramatically in the coming years as the population ages and as more people become disabled by AIDS. Rates of disability are particularly high in post-conflict societies, among refugee populations, and in countries with histories of political violence. Even in stable societies, however, people with disabilities make up the poorest of the poor. In some of the world's poorest countries, according to the United Nations (UN), up to 20 percent of the population has a disability.
Individuals with disabilities are subject to a broad pattern of discrimination and segregation in almost every part of the world. In most countries, people with disabilities and their families are socially stigmatized, politically marginalized, and economically disadvantaged. The economic cost to society of excluding people with disabilities is enormous. No nation in the world will achieve its full potential for economic development while it leaves out people with disabilities. No society will be a complete democracy unless people with disabilities can participate in public life. Failure to respond to the concerns of people with disabilities ignores one of the great humanitarian and human rights challenges of the world today.
The United States is well positioned to lead the world in demonstrating how to build on the tremendous human potential of people with disabilities. It is among the world leaders in protecting the civil rights of people with disabilities, with legislation that seeks to ensure their full participation in society, and in supporting their independent living. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) represents a sweeping commitment on the part of the U.S. government to abolish discrimination against people with disabilities in all walks of life. Since the adoption of the Rehabilitation Act in 1973, U.S. civil rights laws have required all U.S. government programs to be inclusive of and accessible to people with disabilities. As they have exercised their rights over the past 30 years, Americans with disabilities have broken barriers to inclusion, shattered stereotypes about their limitations, and contributed to the economic, cultural, and political life of the nation.
At present, U.S. foreign policy does not reflect the great accomplishments of people with disabilities within the United States. U.S. citizens with disabilities cannot serve in many embassies abroad because these buildings are physically inaccessible. Qualified and talented individuals may be excluded from U.S. government service abroad based on their medical history. In addition to failing to protect U.S. citizens with disabilities in foreign operations, U.S. foreign policies and programs have generally not been designed to respond to the concerns of individuals with disabilities abroad. While the Foreign Assistance Act has long established that "a principal goal of the foreign policy of the United States shall be to promote the increased observance of internationally recognized human rights by all countries," the rights of people with disabilities have been long ignored.
The U.S. National Council on Disability (NCD) calls on the Executive Branch and Congress to create a new foreign policy that ensures access by people with disabilities to the benefits of democracy and economic development around the world. All U.S. foreign operations abroad (including foreign assistance efforts) would be greatly improved if the principles established in U.S. civil rights law-under the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA-were applied to U.S. operations abroad. Such a policy would require U.S. foreign assistance funding to be used in a manner that is accessible to people with disabilities. Such protections would also ensure that U.S. citizens and contractors with disabilities would be protected against discrimination in the implementation of U.S. programs abroad. Leadership by U.S. citizens with disabilities in our foreign operations would greatly improve our ability to respond to the concerns of people with disabilities in other countries.
In 1996, NCD issued a report on foreign policy and disability that found that U.S. programs abroad did not conform to the letter or spirit of U.S. disability rights law. On the basis of recent legal developments, this paper demonstrates that current U.S. disability discrimination laws may now be found to apply to U.S. foreign programs operating abroad. NCD recommends that Congress instruct the State Department and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to apply the protections of the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA to U.S. operations abroad.
In addition to extending civil rights protections that would govern the operation of all U.S. agencies abroad, NCD recommends the adoption of specialized new legislation to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities in foreign assistance. Such legislation would also greatly improve the effectiveness of U.S. efforts to promote human rights and economic development worldwide.
One major source of evidence that guides U.S. human rights policy is the State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. In recent years, the State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL), has made an important step in the right direction by adding a section on disability rights to the Country Reports. This documentation has already had a valuable impact on promoting the rights of people with disabilities. But the information about disability rights in Country Reports is extremely limited and does not begin to paint a full picture of the scope of human rights violations to which people with disabilities are subjected throughout the world today: de jure discrimination against people with disabilities that excludes them from jobs; de facto discrimination that permits exclusion from inaccessible public services or transportation systems; physical and linguistic barriers to participation in public life; denial of public education to people with developmental disabilities; failure to provide medical care to children with disabilities; and arbitrary detention in psychiatric or social facilities where people with disabilities are left to languish in some of the most inhuman and degrading conditions known to humankind.
State Department DRL staff have explained that the lack of information about human rights violations against people with disabilities in the Country Reports is a product of the fact that there are so few nongovernmental human rights or disability rights organizations conducting investigations and documenting abuses. DRL relies extensively on such information for its reports. Both DRL and USAID provide funding and assistance to support civil society and human rights programs abroad. To date, these programs have not sought to fill the gap in human rights documentation or advocacy for people with disabilities.
Despite the tremendous hardships faced by people with disabilities around the world, a 1991 investigation by the General Accounting Office (GAO) found that the major U.S. foreign assistance agencies do not include the concerns of people with disabilities as a priority or as a goal of specific programs. In 1996, NCD issued a report on U.S. foreign policy and disability and found continued barriers to access for people with disabilities. The 1996 NCD Report recommended a series of policy changes to ensure inclusion of people with disabilities in all foreign assistance programs, including the establishment of specific objectives for inclusion with a timetable for their fulfillment.
In response to the 1996 NCD Report, USAID adopted a Disability Policy. USAID accepted NCD's recommendation to include people with disabilities in all its programs, but it dedicated no resources for this purpose. The USAID Disability Policy includes no specific objectives or timetables, creates no new initiatives to reach out to people with disabilities, and does not require U.S. Missions abroad to change their practices. Disability experts working abroad have reported that the vast majority of staff at U.S. Missions abroad are unaware of USAID's Disability Policy.
USAID has issued a series of three valuable self-evaluations on its own efforts to include people with disabilities. These reports provide documentation of USAID's implementation of its Disability Policy-or the lack thereof. The most recent survey of activities by USAID Missions finds "inclusion of PWDs in significantly more projects than in the 2000 and 2002 reports." The 2003 report concludes that "[a]lmost all USAID programs have the potential to prevent disability or to enhance the lives of people living with disability. Except where there is specific legislation, however, relatively few programs give systematic thought to including people with disabilities in their design and implementation. The Congress has expressed interest in programs to assist the disabled and USAID has been responsive, for example, through the Leahy War Victims Fund and the Victims of Torture Fund."
The 2003 USAID report describes a number of important programs for people with disabilities and finds "an increasing variety of activities that target or include people with disabilities." These programs demonstrate how disability issues can be incorporated into USAID's existing work where there is a will to do so. When U.S. agencies operating abroad have focused on the concerns of people with disabilities, they have demonstrated that it is both practical and cost-effective to create appropriate accommodations-even in some of the poorest countries of the world. In the post-war reconstruction of Afghanistan, for example, USAID adopted a policy of making new structures accessible to people with disabilities. This program has reportedly helped people with disabilities in Afghanistan at little additional cost to the United States. By planning ahead, U.S. assistance programs in Afghanistan avoided the future costs of retro-fitting buildings and public thoroughfares for people with disabilities. All Afghanis benefit because this policy ensures that the human potential of people with disabilities contributes to the growth of the society as a whole. Without legislation to ensure an approach like the one adopted in Afghanistan, however, there is no guarantee that rebuilding efforts in other countries-such as Iraq-will follow the same pattern. Indeed, the U.S. contracts that have been awarded to large American construction companies to rebuild the infrastructure in Iraq do not require that new construction be accessible to people with disabilities. As this report goes to press, it is not too late for Congress to act to require that all reconstruction efforts by the U.S. military as well as by private U.S. contractors in Iraq be accessible to and inclusive of people with disabilities.
Seven years after NCD's initial Report on Foreign Policy and Disability, NCD issues this follow-up paper to examine legislative options and civil rights protections to ensure inclusion of people with disabilities in U.S. foreign policy. NCD has come to the conclusion that legislation is necessary to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities in foreign affairs. This report reviews a number of models that Congress has adopted for linking human rights and foreign policy. These laws provide models that can be adapted to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities.
The legislative reforms and new foreign assistance programs proposed by NCD do not amount to special privileges for people with disabilities. The principles of nondiscrimination, access, and inclusion of people with disabilities have been established as civil rights. The new initiatives NCD proposes are similar to programs already established by the United States for women and vulnerable populations. These reforms are needed to ensure that people with disabilities can fully contribute to U.S. foreign policies and programs abroad as they have done so effectively at home.
Summary of Recommendations
The following is a summary of NCD's recommendations. More detailed recommendations appear in section V of the report. While NCD's recommendations are primarily directed at Congress, the Department of State, and USAID, the Department of Defense and other agencies operating abroad can take up many of these recommendations immediately without further action by Congress.
NCD calls on the Bush Administration to recognize the extraterritorial application of Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Sections 501, 503, and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. All U.S. government operations abroad should be brought into compliance with these laws.
NCD recommends that Congress:
Instruct the State Department and USAID that Sections 501, 503, and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act apply to overseas operations of the U.S. government. This will ensure that civil rights protections against discrimination on the basis of disability apply to U.S. government employees and contractors working abroad. It will also ensure that all U.S.-funded programs are used in a manner that is accessible to and inclusive of people with disabilities. Similarly, the ADA is intended to ensure that U.S. corporations operating abroad are prohibited from discriminating against U.S. citizens with disabilities.
NCD recommends that Congress amend the Foreign Assistance Act or adapt other legislation to:
Create a Disability Advisor at the U.S. Department of State to serve as a leader in the development of U.S. international disability policy and to ensure that respect for disability rights is included in U.S. bilateral and multilateral policies and programs, complete with a staff and resources to carry out the work of this advisor. The advisor and staff should be composed of a strong contingent of people who have personal experience with disability and disability advocacy as well as the necessary technical expertise.
Require documentation of disability rights violations in Department of State Country Reports-Congress should act to ensure that reliable and detailed documentation of the full scope of worldwide discrimination and abuse of people with disabilities is obtained and made available to policymakers and the public. The State Department DRL, which produces annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, has already demonstrated a willingness and an ability to provide this documentation in an effective manner. Congress should provide DRL with the additional funds needed to further improve its coverage of people with disabilities in the Country Reports. The Department of State should be required by law to report on human rights violations against people with disabilities wherever they occur. Where reliable information about human rights conditions of people with disabilities is not available, DRL staff should (1) investigate some of the more common human rights violations against people with disabilities and/or (2) provide grants to independent nongovernmental disability organizations and mainstream human rights organizations to provide necessary documentation (grants may be coordinated with the proposed USAID Fund for Inclusion, described below).
Ensure inclusion of people with disabilities in all U.S. programs abroad by providing a broad legal mandate to require every U.S. agency operating abroad to operate in a manner that is accessible and inclusive of people with disabilities. This mandate should apply to all aspects of U.S. foreign assistance, including economic development, disaster relief, and human rights programs. All new investments in physical infrastructure using U.S. government funds, including U.S. military construction programs, should be accessible to people with disabilities. Legislation should require all U.S. agencies operating abroad to develop plans to ensure that the concerns of people with disabilities are among their priorities. Specific action steps for the inclusion of people with disabilities should be included in the strategic plans of all USAID divisions (including, but not limited to, such programs as democracy and governance, cultural exchange, health, economic development, disaster relief, and rebuilding post-conflict societies).
Create an office on Disability in Development (DID) at USAID, similar to the USAID office of Women in Development (WID), responsible for promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities in all USAID programs. As with WID, Congress should set aside funds for the operation of the DID office. Unlike WID, however, the DID office should be incorporated into one of the main substantive divisions or "pillars" of USAID to ensure the office is not isolated and that disability programs are effectively mainstreamed into a broad array of existing programs. The DID office will provide technical assistance to other USAID offices to assist them in developing appropriate accommodations and outreach programs to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities in all existing areas of USAID programming. The DID office will ensure that annual and long-term strategic plans at all USAID offices include provisions requiring that concrete steps be taken to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities. The DID office will administer a Disability Rights Fellowship that will place technical experts on disability issues in U.S. Missions abroad. Congress should set aside sufficient funds to permit DID to assist all U.S. Missions and to place a Disability Rights Fellow in the majority of USAID Missions abroad. The Disability Rights Fellows should be composed of a strong contingent of people who have personal experience with disability and disability advocacy as well as the necessary technical expertise.
Establish a Fund for Inclusion, Leadership, and Human Rights of People with Disabilities (referred to as the Fund for Inclusion). The Fund for Inclusion will be a grants program designed to promote the participation of people with disabilities in all aspects of U.S. foreign assistance programs. The Fund for Inclusion will
- Support the creation, development, and viability of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) made up of people with disabilities around the world;
- Promote educational exchanges, technical assistance, and collaboration among U.S. disability rights groups, foreign governments, human rights organizations, and disability leaders abroad;
- Assist governments in drafting enforceable disability rights legislation and assist NGOs in proposing and promoting such legislation; and
- Establish independent human rights oversight, advocacy, and enforcement programs for people with disabilities.
- The Fund for Inclusion shall be used to support the work of U.S.-based disability organizations to provide technical assistance abroad or to serve as cooperating partners in the development of disability programs by USAID. Congress should allocate substantial resources to this program at least as large as other specialized programs for other vulnerable populations.
New initiatives in post-conflict societies should make people with disabilities a priority-USAID and U.S. military programs in post-conflict societies should recognize that (1) war and conflict lead to high levels of disability, (2) the health and safety of people with disabilities are particularly at risk in post-conflict societies, and (3) it is most cost-efficient to plan for the inclusion of people with disabilities when new investments are being made in the built environment. Thus, inclusion of people with disabilities should be a priority in the immediate aftermath of major conflicts and disasters.
Inclusion should be a required part of the Millennium Challenge Account-The proposed Millennium Challenge Account, which would establish a development program parallel to USAID, should be required to include people with disabilities from the outset.
Request the GAO to document access to people with disabilities in current U.S. government-funded programs. GAO will complete the task it set for itself in 1991 to conduct a thorough examination of the procedures and directives that guide the Department of State in the construction and renovation of facilities abroad to ensure accessibility to people with disabilities.
Support the drafting of a UN Disability Rights Treaty-In addition to amending the Foreign Assistance Act, NCD calls on Congress and the Bush Administration to demonstrate their commitment to the international human rights of people with disabilities by supporting the drafting of a new UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities in the spirit of the ADA and other civil rights laws that will bring about the full inclusion of people with disabilities in society.
U.S. agencies operating abroad should establish guidelines for the implementation of the Rehabilitation Act in their programs abroad. The Department of State and other U.S. agencies should initiate a planning process to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities into all their programs abroad. NCD supports the principle, recognized in the current USAID Disability Policy, that people with disabilities should be included in all existing foreign assistance programs. NCD requests that USAID make this policy an agency commitment that is binding in all programs run by U.S. Missions abroad and a mandatory part of all USAID grants and contracts. USAID should establish a program for fully implementing this commitment and should incorporate this program into its main strategic plans. Other U.S. government agencies operating abroad should establish similar policies.
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