Whether 2% or 15%: Disability Rights are a Sign of a Strong, Sustainable Society!

Service Category: Systems & Strategy

Client Type: An Institution for Rights of Persons Living with Disability (PLDs)

Service: Our client was newly established by an Act of Parliament. We were asked to assist its development of a five-year Strategy to give practical effect to the Act in the lives of PLDs.

What We Did: We did a global literature review, with the World Report on Disability being a key resource. National data suggested 2.4% PLD in the population, where global data indicated about 15%. We flagged the possibility of a serious national under-estimate. Disability is multi-dimensional, so our strategic risk assessment included:
·      International classification of functioning, disability and health
·      The likelihood of preventable disabilities in the national context
·      Employment, income and livelihoods
·      Education
·      Health and reproductive health
·      Access to services including rehabilitation
·      Social inclusion

Foresight Created: We recommended that our client refrain from being a “player” providing services to PLDs. We identified a need for a “regulator” role i.e.
·      A referee of national stakeholders (public, private and not-for-profit entities) in a supervised structure that optimises service delivery to PLDs
·      Leadership of national Advocacy for PLDs
·      Quality Assurance of service providers
·      Optimisation of resource allocation and use in the entire PLD serving sector
Effective regulation offers significant future societal pay-off. It is tempting to indulge in short-term “player” activity that adds little value to a poorly coordinated sector.