Disability & Development

""Poor people are disproportionately disabled, and people with disabilities are disproportionately poor." – Robert Holzmann, Director of the World Bank's Social Protection Department, 2001.

People with a disability are among the poorest of the poor, while people living in poverty are more at risk of becoming disabled. Of the 600 million people with a disability worldwide, about 450 million live in the developing world. Of the one billion people living on under $1 per day, 260 million have a disability. Some 150 million children with a disability lack access to child care services, schools, recreation and other social services, and are likely to remain illiterate and untrained. Disabled women and girls face triple discrimination because they are female, carry impairment and are amongst the poorest of the poor. Disability and poverty reinforce one another, intensifying marginalisation and insecurity.

Past forums on this topic:

Inclusion: World Developement & Disability
Tuesday, 7 April 2009, Melbourne VIC
World Development for All.