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As described by the Department for International Development in their issues paper “Disability, poverty and development”, disability is intrinsically linked to the negative cycle of poverty, ignorance, vulnerability, disability and exclusion.

Poverty is a contributing factor to the cause of disability but is equally an effect too. Social and economic exclusion of disabled people does not affect the individual alone, but results in a high economic dependency on family members, relatives or government. Special services for disabled people are expensive. Day-to-day caring needs of a disabled person may hinder employment opportunities of the carers, thus leading to a loss of potential family income. Likewise, due to the combination of ignorance, discrimination, exclusion from education and inaccessible environments, disabled people face enormous barriers to employment opportunities. This is not only a negation of disabled people’s rights, but is also a perpetuation of the vulnerability and poverty cycle.

In order to break this negative cycle and to directly address the Millennium Development Goal of “cutting poverty in half by 2015”, we are working at an international level to raise awareness about the link between disability and poverty. We also lobby international organisations and donors to include disabled people in their development policies and funding considerations.

Economic empowerment of disabled people is not just about providing employment for disabled people, but addressing other issues that amplify the cycle of disability, poverty and exclusion.  At local levels, we work with governments, local partners and communities to enable:

• Capacity building of disabled people’s organisations to advocate for the rights and inclusion of disabled people, especially for disabled women.
• Access to formal and non-formal education systems as well as vocational training schemes to increase the educational and qualification levels of disabled people.
• Involvement of disabled people and their families within income generation activities and small loan schemes.
• Awareness raising and lobbying of employers to support them to adapt their working policies, practices and environments to include disabled people.
• Improvement of the economic efficiency of rehabilitation services and networks.
• Raising community awareness about disability prevention.

Read the Guide on Good Practices for the Economic Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Developing Countries - Funding Mechanisms for Self-Employment (2006, 5.03 MB)