We Care for You: Sensitizing Youth towards Differently-Abled for Societal Inclusive Growth

The problem is not how to wipe out the differences but how to unite with the differences intact. -Rabindranath Tagore

From Commitments to Outcomes

Differently Abled: Definition

Politically correct 1990s euphemism meaning "disabled". More precisely it means "lacking expected abilities.

Mental disability is generally associated with much more social stigma than physical disability.

Facts
The number of differently abled people in India is substantial and likely to grow - disability does not go away as countries get richer Differently abled people in India are subject to deprivation in many dimensions of their lives. Social attitudes and stigma play an important role in limiting the opportunities of differently abled people for full participation in social and economic life, often even within their own families.

India has one of the more progressive disability policy frameworks in the developing world. However, there remain huge challenges operationalizing the policy framework
Increasing the status and social & economic participation of people with disabilities would have positive effects on

Differently Abled statistics in INDIA

Extent of disability Can not care for self even with aid Can care for self only with aid Can care for self w/out aid Aid/appliance not available Share of all PWD 13.6%

17.2

60.2

9.0

Need for Awareness

1) They are Poorer and have conversion handicap They are more likely to be in low income groups 2) They often have low awareness of rights and entitlements

3) They are subject to strong social stigma within community and families which is often internalized

Differently Abled People are Subject to Multiple Deprivations

They are much more likely to be illiterate and out of school *.*: Share of 6-13 year olds out of school by social category, 2005 Figure
Multiple Locomotor Speech Hearing Visual Mental All disabled Muslim OBC ST SC Females Males All children 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

% of category out of school

India has one of the more progressive disability policy frameworks in the developing world
PWD Act, 1995 National Policy on Persons with Disabilities, 2005 Ratification of UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Oct. 2007) Sector-specific policies emerging e.g. National Action Plan for Inclusion in Education of Children and Youth with Disabilities 2005/06

Initiatives taken
NASSCOM initiatives for the disabled

Another organization that talks about total inclusion is NASSCOM Foundation (NF), the social development arm of NASSCOM, Indias premier information technology (IT) industry body. The organization is engaged in empowering and enabling persons with disabilities (PwDs) in the IT workforce. Tata Steel As part of its CSR, Tata Steel, too, claims that it believes in empowering the marginalized sections of society. The company, on a regular basis, also organizes sporting events and cultural programmes for the physically challenged. On World Disability Day, 2010, to acknowledge that the challenged ones are an equal and important part of the community, the company organized a sports event. Around 200 visually impaired, hearing impaired and physically challenged special children participated in the event.

Contd.
IBM technology for disabled

IBM says that it believes in using its core competency technology to help solve some of the key issues of society. It developed Reading Companion, a programme to increase literacy among children and adults. It is a speech-recognition technology for the classroom. Accessibility is another programme designed specially to make technology accessible to groups who are conventionally not associated with using technology physically/mentally challenged or socially/economically backward people.

Key Recommendation: Get the basics right

What can we do?

What does that mean in practice ? Preventive care - both for mothers through nutritional interventions, and infants through both nutrition and basic immunization coverage. Improve road and workplace safety Identifying differently abled people as soon as possible after onset - the system needs major improvements in this most basic function Major improvements in early intervention, which can cost effectively transform the lives of differently abled people, their families, and the communities they live and work in Getting all children with special needs into school and giving young differently abled adults the skills to participate fully in family and economic life Expanding efforts to improve societal attitudes to people with disabilities, relying on public-private partnerships that build on successful models already operating in India

The Way Forward

1. Understand the scale and impact of disability in the country setting and recognise the diversity of the disabled population 2. Advocate and support the human rights model of disability rather than the charitable or medical approach Disabled people want equal rights, not charity. Disabled people are entitled to the same human rights as all other citizens. In order to meet this standard, all people should celebrate the diversity within their communities and seek to ensure that disabled people can have the full range of human rights civil, political, social, economic and cultural.

The Way Forward

3. Recognise women and children with disabilities in programmes It is important to design programmes and projects in a way that secures gender equality and for both men and women to have equal influence on the design, decision-making and implementation. Furthermore, as women and children with disabilities are often severely marginalised, specific initiatives are required to reduce exclusion and discrimination by: Education projects aimed specifically towards women and children with disabilities. Strengthening of disabled womens networks and networks of parents of children with disabilities. Specific programmes for children with disabilities.

The Way Forward

4. Include disabled people in the workforce An inclusive organisation working on poverty issues should employ a reasonable proportion of disabled people among their staff.

Thank You