June 7th , 2007
Comments by the National Research and Development Centre for
Welfare and Health (STAKES) on the GA resolution 60/131, with
particular focus on the op 16 on disability instruments and
MDGs
The National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and
Health (STAKES) expresses its appreciation for the opportunity to
express its views on the implementation of the GA Resolution
60/131. The World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons
was and continues to be a progressive document and a crucial guide
for including disability issues and disabled people in the
mainstream of society. It has inspired people with disabilities and
their organizations, as well as numerous other actors and agencies
to initiate concrete action towards enabling people with
disabilities to achieve full citizenship with equal rights,
including the right to take responsibilities in one's own life and
in society. The goal has been to turn people with disabilities from
objects of charity and care to agents of action.
The vision of A Society for All, which was endorsed by the GA
Resolution 45/91 as the legitimate and inspiring long-term goal for
all Member States remains still valid. Many countries, including
Finland, have adopted the vision of A Society for All as the
general goal for disability policy. Also in policy documents
concerning development cooperation Finland has coherently
emphasized the inclusion of disability issues and people with
disabilities in all policies and operations.[1] Similar policy
statements have been done by several donor countries. It is,
however, evident that the good goals of policies tend to evaporate
and are seldom materializing in the concrete ways they should. The
obstacles for actual inclusion relate still to biased attitudes,
lack of awareness and knowledge rather than to the lack of economic
resources.
The Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for
Persons with Disabilities have provided a practical guide for the
implementation of a two track strategy of (a) mainstreaming that is
(b) supported by targeted services. Many countries, including
Finland, have geared their policies to this direction. Such a
two-track strategy is functional also in development cooperation
context. However, as the ownership of development plans and their
implementation is increasingly shifting to countries themselves, a
third track is needed. People with disabilities do not have a
strong enough voice in national decision making processes unless
they are supported by empowering measures that enable them and
their organizations to effectively partake in the setting,
implementation and monitoring of development plans.
The series of United Nations Summits and Conferences in the
1990s resulted in the set of universally agreed and endorsed
development goals, the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs. The MDGs
did not recognize disability issues to be relevant for these goals.
It is now widely understood that disability issues and people with
disabilities do belong to the focus areas of the reduction of all
dimensions of poverty and thus also to the focus of efforts to
achieve the MDGs. The MDGs are becoming a central element in
development plans. This creates some additional challenges. First,
the MDGs have had a tendency to lead to a rather narrow focus. Many
issues that are needed to materialize the goals were not covered (
e.g. employment and social protection/policy, institutional issues
etc.). Secondly, here are still a n umber of development frameworks
that guide the practical operations of development cooperation.
This holds also within the UN family. While steps have been taken
to increase collaboration and coherence, planning, implementation
and monitoring is done by many organizations and agencies. This is
stretching the administrative capacities of recipient
countries.
The MDGs can provide a common platform for cooperation. In order
to include also issues that have not been included in the original
MDGs additional guidance, support and practical arrangements are
needed. The disability dimension requires thus specific attention
in global, bilateral, national and local policy dialogue. Also more
concrete awareness raising, guidelines and capacity building is
needed for effective tabling of these issues on the MDG- based
development agenda. Furthermore, a budget line needs to be added to
implementation plans as inclusion does have a price tag - however,
with high returns in the longer run.
The recently adopted Convention on the right of people with
disabilities provides the international community, all Member
States, and people with disabilities themselves with a new and
powerful tool for reaching the legitimate goals of dignity and
rights of people with disabilities. As the Convention is wide in
contents and very demanding as an instrument the ratification may
take some time in a number of countries. In the meanwhile, the
international community and Member States may wish to take
preparatory steps towards effective adoption, awareness raising,
implementation and follow up arrangements of the Convention. For
instance, Finland has updated and redirected its disability policy
explicitly towards a rights-based approach in order to create
coherence and synergy between international agreements,
implementation and reporting obligations and the national
monitoring needs and mechanisms. The recently published Government
Report on Disability states that " Monitoring will be made part of
the monitoring activity concerning the rights of people with
disabilities as required by international agreements."
As the Convention covers practically all the issues that were
included in the Standard Rules, the case of Standard Rules may have
to be reviewed. Most probably the Convention will become the frame
of reference already before it has been ratified. In any case, from
Member State perspective one single follow-up and monitoring
mechanism is preferable.
Finland welcomes the efforts to create more policy coherence and
to include disability issues and people with disabilities into
mainstream development frameworks. In the spirit of International
Legal Instruments and declarations development efforts should
include all people as beneficiaries, contributors and agents of
action. People with disabilities are, however, marginalized to that
extent that mainstreaming needs to be accompanied by specific
attention, measures and support that enable them to take part in
mainstream activities as equal partners. Furthermore, the
collective voice and capacity of people with disabilities needs to
be supported in order to channel their legitimate claims into the
planning and decision making processes.
Disability agenda should be placed in the context of
comprehensive and ambitious national development strategies that
focus on the wellbeing of all people. Such a strategy, in turn,
builds on pro-poor growth in the spirit of the Decent Work Agenda,
inclusive and universal education, health care, social protection
and equal access to other essential services of public
interest.
Finland proposes that the issue of disability, the relevant
instruments, and their relationship to the MDGs be handled within a
framework of efforts to design "more ambitious national development
strategies" in line with the recommendation of the World Summit of
2005. Such a comprehensive framework would facilitate coherence and
synergy and, in the end, enable each recipient Member State to
include disability in its mainstream development plan on social and
economic development.
Helsinki, June 7th , 2007
Vappu Taipale
Director General
Ronald Wiman
Development Manager
[1] The policy statement is included in "Label us Able . A
pro-active evaluation of Finnish Development Cooperation from the
Disability Perspective", Evaluation Report . Ministry for Foreign
Affairs of Finland., Helsinki 2003 |