10. DFID and disability

Introduction

The second stage of the Disability Knowledge and Research (KaR) Programme, between 2003 and 2005, was designed to consider a wide range of issues concerned with disability and development. Within this was the aim to address the overall research objectives of the UK Department for International Development (DFID). It was also intended to raise the profile of disability within DFID and offer recommendations for the more effective mainstreaming of disability in policy and practice.

The leading edge for generating ideas was the Programme's Disability Policy Officer, who spent most of her time working within DFID. She began by carrying out a detailed mapping of disability work within the department, prepared three in-depth country reports, commissioned four substantial research projects and provided technical support on disability to DFID as a whole. Her work, together with the three roundtables and the many other research projects funded by Disability KaR, have yielded a plethora of practical ideas for how DFID can develop a more robust disability agenda.

This section focuses on a few of the key recommendations directed specifically at DFID. Many of the other suggestions from the Programme's work, particularly those that are broadly applicable to all development agencies, have been outlined in previous sections.

Institutional level

DFID's disability policy and its implementation:

In her final report, Disability, poverty and the Millennium Development Goals (Ref. A7), the Disability Policy Officer argues that it is vital that addressing disability issues is recognised as essential to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), upon which DFID's policy commitments are based. All the Disability KaR reports which deal with this emphasise how important it is that disability is recognised as a cross-cutting (mainstream) question at the highest level. Further, to have any impact this has to be clearly communicated and monitored throughout the department. The critical importance of all these factors was also demonstrated in the comparative study of a number of national development agencies, including DFID, in the Disability KaR paper, Has disability been mainstreamed into development cooperation? (Ref. D7).

The appointment of a disability policy officer/advisor:

The need to mainstream disability within DFID was the main recommendation of the first report commissioned for the Programme (Disability KaR: assessing connections to DFID's poverty agenda - Ref. A2). A key element in carrying this forward was for a Disability Policy Officer to work full time within the department and a post of Disability Advisor to be established. The latter was also seen as an important lesson to be learned from the experience of gender and development by the authors of the Programme's paper, Mainstreaming disability in development: lessons from gender mainstreaming (Ref. C3). This point is supported by Disability KaR having demonstrated the exceptional value for DFID staff of having an in-house source of expert technical advice and support on disability issues.

Disability training and staff diversity:

If DFID is going to encourage developing countries to mainstream disability into social and economic interventions then it needs to set an organisational example. This idea underpins the Disability Policy Officer's admonition in her final report that, 'Awareness of disability issues can and should be developed through specific training for DFID staff. However, it is no substitute for the understanding that comes from working with and alongside disabled staff.'

Country level

Supporting local DPOs:

With an increasing proportion of aid being provided in ways which limit the ability to impose micro-level conditions, one of the most potent ways for DFID to ensure disability gets included in development is by supporting disabled people's organisations (DPOs). Among other things, this gives disabled people the capacity to lobby for their rights and hold their governments to account. The Disability Policy Officer makes a strong case for this in all her reports. Practical examples of how this plays out are also detailed in the Disability KaR reports, The role and effectiveness of disability legislation in South Africa (Ref. B1), Promoting inclusion? Disabled people, legislation and public policy (Ref. D4) and Are disabled people's voices from both South and North being heard in the development process? (Ref. D3).

Ensuring disability issues are included in all processes relating to new aid instruments:

DFID engages in and supports efforts to collect data for such studies as Poverty Social Impact Analyses (PSIAs) which help prepare the ground for aid interventions. It is, therefore, in a position to make sure that disability is explicitly included in such processes.

Besides giving general support to DPOs, the Disability Policy Officer also sees a more specific role for DFID. This role is to include DPOs in consultations on Country Assistant Plans (CAPs) as well as providing assistance so that DPOs can participate effectively as part of civil society in formulating Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs). A case study of this is offered in the Disability KaR report, Participation of disabled people in the PRSP/PEAP process in Uganda (Ref. B2).

Building disability into country sector support:

The Disability KaR country report on India (Ref. A6) provides best-practice examples of how DFID country offices can make significant progress on getting disability taken into account. Among the successes has been the inclusion of disability indicators in agreements with the government on a major education programme, as well as another initiative on child and reproductive health. The office has also been working with a local DPO to develop an inclusive staff recruitment strategy and make sure that the premises are accessible.

Country offices are where DFID's real business takes place. This is why it is so important that ways are found to spread throughout the organisation the lessons learned in India or other country offices about how to design and implement disability-inclusive practices.

Conclusion

In 2000 DFID published an issues paper entitled Disability, poverty and development that set out an ambitious disability mainstreaming agenda for the department. But, as the Disability Policy Officer commented in her report, DFID and disability (Ref. A3): '…there is little practical evidence that mainstreaming has taken place and disability has hardly registered at all in the development process.' To be fair to DFID, the Disability KaR paper Is disability really on the development agenda? (Ref. C2) concluded that disability was not being mainstreamed by any development agency.

The Disability KaR Programme has helped to move things forward substantially. Its innovative research programme - giving a leading role to DPOs and disabled researchers in both the UK and developing countries, its comprehensive policy work and the willingness of staff to embrace new ideas, have combined to position DFID uniquely among development agencies in mainstreaming disability into development.