IDDC

Making Development Inclusive: Policy input series
European Parliament debates Inclusive Development

On Monday 10 May, the European Parliament Committee on Development had an exchange of views on people with disabilities in European development cooperation. IDDC was invited to speak on the topic alongside ONCE from Spain. The European Commission presented its work and challenges in this area. All the speakers underlined the importance of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) as the foundation for approaching the inclusion of people with disabilities in development cooperation and the importance of the UN Millennium Development Goal Review Summit in September to ensure that people with disabilities are brought onto the international development agenda. The Commission underlined that the IDDC is a key partner for the EU to succeed in this area and invited MEPs to contribute their views more actively.

Mr. Murali Pradmanabhan who works for CBM in India, presented the IDDC and its approach to inclusive development. He reminded MEPs that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) cannot be achieved without including persons with disabilities and that persons with disabilities must be brought on board for the UN MDG Summit in September. He drew particular attention to the provisions of the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities regarding the participation of Disabled People’s Organisations, situations of risk and emergency and international cooperation. IDDC called in particular for a twin-track approach to disability in European aid, with specific interventions and mainstreaming of disability, and further efforts to be made in terms of political dialogue with partner government regarding the implementation and ratification of CRPD. A copy of Mr. Pradmanabhan's presentation can be found here .

Ms. Ana Peláez Narváez spoke on behalf of the ONCE’s Latin America Foundation. She is also Vice Chair-person of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which monitors implementation of the CRPD at the international level. In addition to her presentation (click here ) she reminded the EP and Commission that even if a state hasn’t ratified the CRPD, the EU is still under obligation to promote and implement article 32 and find ways to include people with disabilities in its cooperation with that state.

The European Commission, represented by Mr. Jean –Claude Boidin underlined that the CRPD is very important and provides a clear framework for the Commission’s international cooperation in the field of disability and that working towards compliance with it is the Commission’s ambition. He highlighted that the twin-track approach is already being sought, but that challenges remain in terms of mainstreaming disability due to the European Consensus on Development which was agreed in 2005 and does not highlight disability as a cross-cutting issue. This makes disability ‘invisible’ in policy. In addition, the move towards increasing direct support to partner governments makes targeting the inclusion of specific groups of the population difficult, but highlights the importance of political dialogue. He also underlined that currently measuring the effects of development on persons with disabilities is very difficult as there are no markers in the current Development Assistance Committee (DAC) system for collecting OECD data on development cooperation. The Commission feels that the MDG Summit, and the Commissioner’s intention to revisit the 2005 Consensus are opportunities to make progress on including people with disabilities in development cooperation.

In the exchange with MEPs, Mr.Guerrero Salom highlighted the important contribution that ONCE had made to improving the lives of people with disabilities in Spain. He also questioned whether the Commission was really doing enough to mainstream disability and find its way through the difficulties presented by the Consensus and direct government support. Mr. Goerens questioned whether more couldn’t be done to mainstream disability and drew particular attention to the responsibilities of various parties when so much disability is caused by the remnants of conflict and war. He felt that more impairments could be prevented if the EU had more coherence in its policies for developing countries. He also wondered whether donor coordination was happening around this issue, in order to be a little strategic in their approach to disability and development. Both also asked what impact article 32 would have on the lives of people with disabilities.

Both Mr. Pradmanabhan and Ms. Pelaez Narvaez underlined that the CRPD as a whole needs to be seen as asking parties to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities and ensure access for people with disabilities. For this to happen all types of barriers, physical, communication, social and economic, need to be broken down. Donors have a key role to play in promoting and facilitating this. The Commission underlined that the IDDC is a key partner for the EU to succeed in this area and invited MEPs to contribute their views more actively.

A recording of the event can be found here. Mr. Pradmanabhan and Ms. Pelaez Narvaez's presentations and responses begin at 15:16:40 on the recording and end at 15:57:00.