Executive Summary of Dutch Conference on Disability & Development

General principles with regard to working on inclusion Many contributors at the meeting stressed the importance of participation of disabled people in development activities. Yolan Koster (director of Kantel Konsult) stated that, where change is desirable, the initiative for change has to come from the disabled themselves. Another task is to build solidarity among disabled people. The main message to put across to disabled people is that they can learn from each other. The way to achieve this is by empowering disabled people, especially children, to change their point of view, so that they look upon themselves and each other as 'powerful' people. It is therefore absolutely necessary to integrate empowerment programmes in development programmes. Yolan Koster's advice to the listeners: invest in empowerment programmes, because only empowered people can change the world.

In the lobby workshop, 'consultation of disabled people' was identified as a cross-cutting issue in lobbying. However, the debate shaping (Dutch) development co-operation takes place mostly in the West. Huib Cornielje (acting chairman of DCDD) warned that disability and development may all too easily become a toy for academics and activists. This concern was also expressed in the practical workshop: focus too much on the debate and you will forget about the people themselves. Be critical and ask yourself whether this involvement leads to any real improvements for disabled people in the South. In order to be meaningful it is first and foremost of importance to listen carefully to disabled people from these countries. Secondly, DCDD needs to build bridges between stakeholders, both in the South and in the West, and to convince the various stakeholders in development assistance that substantial attention should be paid to the needs and abilities of disabled people in the South.

Experience in Norway shows that involvement of Norwegian disabled people, and disabled people's organisations in particular, was crucial in pressing the government to make its policy more inclusive. Elisabeth Bruce (Norwegian Alliance for the Disabled) described the continuing role of the Atlas Alliance as the government's watchdog, pointing out that the Alliance's activities have led to greater visibility of disabled people internationally. Implementation of the 'UNESCO flagship on inclusive education' and the World Bank trust fund on disability are indirect results of the Nordic countries' progress in the area of disability inclusion.

The much-needed focus of seeing disability as a more cross-cutting development approach which has inclusion of marginalized and deprived groups in society as its starting point, requires a redirection of thinking, said Huib Cornielje. On the one hand, everything possible should be done to create a more inclusive society, while, on the other hand, affirmative action and special attention is required for the specific problems that people with disabilities experience on a daily basis. Other contributors also discussed this twin-track approach. Rens Rutten (Cordaid policy officer) explained why Cordaid has chosen a two-way strategy consisting of direct intervention with vulnerable groups besides inclusion of vulnerable groups in Cordaid policy. Direct intervention with vulnerable groups consists of care for these groups, strengthening of community activities related to care for these groups, and promotion of self-organisation of vulnerable people. Cordaid now intends to shift to interventions in care that are more related to community development, and to lobby and advocacy activities. Cordaid's thematic policy deals with the 'mainstreaming' of vulnerable groups in its overall policy: addressing inequalities between particularly vulnerable groups and non-vulnerable groups in all strategic areas of Cordaid's work.

Current Dutch governmental policy, although it is oriented towards structural poverty alleviation, does not include any policy on disability. Aagje Papineau-Salm (head of the social policy division, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs) explained that, at country level, poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSPs) will remain the basis for collaboration between governments, civil society organisations and other donors. This implies collaboration with all stakeholders to try to implement the sector plans, which were developed jointly. In practice there will be little room left for support of special activities through bilateral co-operation. The Dutch government's influence can be used to make sure that important aspects are not forgotten, but Dutch Development Co-operation cannot dictate what should be in the policy. Especially with regard to cross-cutting issues such as gender, children in difficult circumstances and disability, this will be a 'handicap', Ms. Papineau said, but there are still two ways left for further strengthening the issue of inclusion of disability. One of these ways is to mainstream as much as possible. Two areas where this can be done and where things are already on their way are human rights and basic education. The second way is to work through NGOs and civil society organisations, both in the Netherlands and in developing countries.

Focal points
Jabulani Ncube (disability consultant, Namibia) declared that it is necessary to give specific attention to supporting disabled women and girls. As a practical measure to end the vicious cycle in which disability and poverty are inextricably linked, it is essential to recognise and support existing and emerging groups, organisations and networks of disabled women to promote their full inclusion within the disability movement. Building the disability movement by supporting efforts by disabled people to form their own organisations is another focal point. These are not attempts to create a separate world for disabled people, Jabulani Ncube emphasised. By beginning to organise from an internal perspective, the movement essentially builds the constituency for change. And anyway, if disabled people themselves are not involved, no momentum for change will develop either. By building the disabled people's movement, one actually contributes to strengthening the 'twin-track approach'. It means focusing on special measures of building the strength of the movement, and at the same time mainstreaming disability issues through the movement's advocacy work.

Maria Kangere (director of COMBRA, Uganda), in her contribution to the practical workshop, spoke about the disability movement in Uganda. In the beginning of the 1990s disabled people in Uganda came together to form the National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU). The founders of NUDIPU were motivated by a local Ugandan saying, "A gali awamu ge galuma enyama", which means, "It is the teeth that are together that can bite the meat". About ten years after its foundation NUDIPU faces several challenges: In Uganda the election of more than 47,000 councillors representing persons with disabilities in 56 districts ushered in a new era of governance for persons with disabilities. However, many disabled people are still not aware of their rights. Some categories of disabilities, specifically the deaf and women, have not enjoyed the same opportunities offered by the new developments. Finding employment is a nightmare. The disability budget is still regarded in terms of projects. There is a tendency to regard disability issues as donor responsibility and it is at the bottom of priorities.

In Jabulani Ncube's view, a key weakness in organisations of disabled people lies in the field of policy and legislation. It has therefore become a key priority for them to work in this area and to pay attention to advocacy and lobbying with local and national government authorities to pass laws and policies that will facilitate disability work and improve access to opportunities and resources for disabled people. What has changed? On the negative side, one sees that in some countries existing laws and policies are not implemented. Sufficient resources to allow implementation are rarely allocated. In this context tokenism is a challenge requiring constant vigilance. On the positive side, the Ugandan and South African examples show a definite improvement in the visibility of disabled people and their issues as they get to be represented on various levels of governance in their countries. We have seen the emergence of close relationships between the disability movements in Uganda and South Africa and the respective ruling political party or movement. We are, however, unsure what will happen if the ruling party is replaced.

Working on issues in disability advocacy
Although the necessity to include disability in development policy is emphasised time and again, lack of action on the part of politicians and policy-makers means that progress remains rather slow. Is it a matter of not hearing the message or is the message so confronting that people pretend not to hear?, Huib Cornielje wondered. In response,Jabulani Ncube made some suggestions for how people in the North may help the efforts to mainstream disability and thus contribute to raising the profile of disability issues. Firstly, he urged the audience to understand and take note of the agendas of the key players involved in disability, so that they may be able to align their strategies accordingly. Secondly, he asked them to seek to ensure the inclusion of the disability dimension into bilateral and, possibly, multilateral agreements between the Dutch government and Southern partners. Thirdly, the growth and development of organisations of disabled people should be supported.

An important way of promoting the rights of persons with disabilities is through setting international standards, stated Aagje Papineau-Salm. In the United Nations context, the work of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilitiesis of great importance. It is the intention of the Dutch government to contribute constructively to the negotiations.

In the Dutch government's new development policy there will be a strong focus on basic education, aids, reproductive health and environment. As regards basic education, Dutch policy is geared in the first place to supporting governments in their efforts to implement national education reform programmes designed to meet Education-for-All objectives for basic education. In those plans, in the opinion of the Dutch government, it is required to take account of the needs of the poor and the disadvantaged, including working children, ethnic minorities, children affected by conflict or HIV/AIDS, and children with special needs. In other words, the inclusion of children with special needs must be an integral part of strategies to achieve Universal Primary Education by 2015.

Inclusion through mainstreaming should be the main focus when influencing Dutch governmental policy, Ms. Papineau-Salm continued. Although it is not certain what will happen on country level, no special targets or earmarked funding are foreseen. The help of civil society organisations and NGOs is needed to promote continuous attention for the inclusion of disability. Not to start all sorts of projects, but to fight for the rights of disabled people.

Maria Kangere, in her contribution to the practical workshop, asked: What are the issues that need to be incorporated in a policy for mainstreaming disability from the perspective of a developing country? When countries in the North offer aid, the negotiators from the Southern countries usually lack the necessary knowledge or have a negative attitude towards disability. Disability issues are usually lowest on the agenda because people with disabilities are a minority and have no voice. Disability will thus not surface in the dialogue unless the programme is specifically aimed at disability, which again segregates disability interventions further. For member of the DCDD coalition, as concluded in the lobby workshop, this underlines once more the need to strengthen, capacitate and empower disabled people's organisations in developing countries and to build and strengthen civil society organisations in which disabled people are included, in order that their perspectives on, for example, PRSPs are included.

The lobby workshop provided concrete examples and strategies of how to lobby for disability inclusion and how to advocate disability issues in general. Elisabeth Bruce described how the political process in Norway was influenced by Norwegian disabled people's organisations. The lessons learned in Norway may well apply to the Dutch situation. In the lobby workshop the following basic question was investigated: "What are good strategies for mainstreaming disability awareness in the practices of Dutch actors in development co-operation?" The answers to this basic question can be divided into four categories: 1) Tools and examples showing "we can do it!"; 2) Creating win-win situations for decision-makers; 3) "Inclusive policy promotes development"; and 4) How to put disability on the agenda.

Tools and examples showing "we can do it!" (1) include integration of disability issues in the training of development workers. We could use the experience of gender-mainstreaming. It is important to demonstrate that disability inclusiveness works, by highlighting good examples, for instance. Other ideas are to develop joint projects across organisations and to develop a disability checklist to analyse organisations (see below). In lobbying work it is important to create win-win situations for decision-makers (2). Methods include direct confrontation with policy-makers using a single clear message. We have to work with allies to influence actors. We need to stimulate partner organisations to consult disabled people's organisations. We need to learn to speak the language of the planners. Besides creating critical mass it is important to have legitimacy to be able to speak on behalf of disabled people from Southern countries. We should influence MPs to change minister's policies. The lobby workshop facilitator, Henk van Apeldoorn, suggested that DCDD's advisory group on lobbying and advocacy should study these ideas. "Inclusive policy promotes development" (3) should be promoted as the central idea. Disabled people are ambassadors for this concept. Central issues include: "nothing about us without us", "inclusion comes first". Lots of ideas were collected in the workshop on how to put disability on the agenda (4). Among these are: connect with policy priorities; set up a multi-theme working group; inclusion of disability increases the quality and quantity of results; know which actors to connect on which "hot issues"; making the position of the disabled visible.

Offering a 'checklist' can be a useful lobby tool, a present that can be used by decision-makers. But the checklist can also show whether the decision-maker is favourable to 'disability issues' or not. Then it is more like a pressure tool. The idea of using a checklist was discussed at length in the practical workshop. Common ground was found in that developing such a checklist could work well in advocating disability at several decision levels.

Concluding remarks
The presentations, workshops and discussions at this invitational expert meeting were fruitful and dynamic. The large number of participants from various Dutch and foreign organisations associated with development co-operation promise potential for change in Dutch policy and practice. The contents of the contributions and debates are rich and will provide DCDD with sufficient material to work with in the coming years. DCDD hopes that the participants in the meeting will want to share in the work on disability inclusion.

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