Poverty & Disability

DIGNITY and justice for all of us. This is the theme for this year’s December 3 International Day for Persons with Disabilities, as well as the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These recognize that the inherent dignity, equality and inalienable rights of all members of the human family are the foundations of freedom, justice and peace in the world. 2008 has been an important year in the international human rights movement, with the entry into force on May 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Convention promotes and protects the human rights of persons with disabilities in civil, cultural, economic, political, and social life.



Around 10 percent of the world’s population, or 650 million people, live with disabilities. People with disabilities are excluded from full participation in the social order, and are often forced to live on the margins of society. An estimated 80 percent of people with disabilities live in developing countries, the majority of whom live in conditions of extreme poverty. If we include members of their families, there are approximately 2 billion people directly affected by disability, representing almost a third of the world’s population. Article 28 of the Convention recognizes the rights of people with disabilities to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families, including adequate food, clothing and housing.





The outskirts of San Salvador





I have been documenting and photographing the struggle for survival of people in developing countries for over thirty years, and I am always shocked to see the injustices suffered by those living with disabilities. In August 2004 I went to Central America to document the lives of these people, many of whom live in the poorest areas of the cities. I was travelling to one of these suburbs on the outskirts of San Salvador when our Land Rover suddenly came to a halt on a steep muddy road leading to a hamlet of houses. The road was impassable. As we approached the houses I could hear the voice of a child calling for help. It was seven year old Carlos who had contracted polio when he was a baby, and was now on a wheelchair. He asked us to take him outside, as his parents had gone to work leaving him alone for the day with only a glass of water and a piece of bread, which he had already eaten by mid morning. He is one of the many forgotten children with disabilities throughout the world who are left on their own by their parents during the day while they go out to work. In the present situation, it is possible that Carlos may never have the opportunity to attend school or to receive physiotherapy.





A rubbish dump in Nicaragua





In Nicaragua the father of young Camilo, who has mild cerebral palsy, took me to see the reality of the lives of people with disabilities. It was not difficult to meet them in the communities near Managua. Most of the families told us they had never received any help or support from any organisation or government. On the edge of a local rubbish dump, a group of abandoned children were returning from a morning’s scavenging , where they had been looking for leftovers of food, and any objects that could be recycled and sold. The children, many of whom were made sick from the pollution present on the rubbish dump, were living with Antonio, 37, who worked as a waiter in the evenings in order to provide them with food. He was also taking care of another young man who was confined to a wheelchair. Antonio told me how he had saved up for many months to buy the wheelchair for his friend.





A school in Ethiopia





Few children with disabilities living in developing countries have the opportunity to go to school. Article 24 of the Convention states that governments must ensure equal access to primary and secondary education, vocational training, adult education and lifelong learning to people with disabilities. It was the sheer determination of Alem, 14, blind from cataracts, that opened to her the doors of a classroom in the village of Akesta in Ethiopia. For years she had been pleading with her mother to allow her to go to school. After persuading her mother, she faced the second obstacle of the school administration, which reluctantly accepted her, and to her disappointment placed her in a class of younger pupils.





Training Centres



In Bandra, Mumbai, India, Dr. Mithu Alur established the National Resource Centre for Inclusion, which focuses on educating children with disabilities together with children who are from socially disadvantaged backgrounds in the shanty towns. The Centre is a first step towards ensuring that children become integrated in mainstream education.



The Department of Health in the Philippines has identified malnutrition and unsanitary living conditions as a result of extreme poverty, especially among urban shanty town dwellers, as the most significant causes of disability. In Sasa, Davao City, at Our Lady of Victory Training Centre, a residential centre for people with disabilities run by the Maryknoll Sisters, young people work in a woodcraft workshop producing objects which are sold locally and internationally. Article 27 of the Convention recognizes the rights of people with disabilities to work on an equal basis with others.



At a rehabilitation centre at Rashidiyah Palestinian Refugee Camp in Tyre, Lebanon, I met children with intellectual disabilities living in situations of chronic poverty during the years of conflict with Israel. At the same centre men injured in the conflict were working in a workshop building wheelchairs for other people with disabilities.





The need for solidarity



In Afghanistan, landmine explosions are one of the principal causes of disability. In Kabul, the Red Cross established a centre to help the thousands of people affected by the war. Women and young girls who collect water and wood in the fields for cooking are most affected by landmine explosions. Fatema, 16, and Shabana, 18, lost their legs in this way. Both were now taking courses at the centre to equip them with skills for the future.



For many people with disabilities living in institutions the dream is to live in mainstream society. In Baku, Azerbaijan, I visited an institution for people with intellectual disabilities. An employee at the entrance to the complex warned me not to enter for my own safety as the people were dangerous. But I told him, “If anything happens it is my responsibility!” and went in. At first the people were looking at me with curiosity, some coming very close, touching me and the camera, while others looked from a distance. We managed to communicate despite the language barrier, and I sought permission to take their photographs. I was able to show the institution’s employee that people with intellectual disabilities are not dangerous, but need solidarity and have a right to live in mainstream society. Article 19 of the Convention recognizes the equal rights of all disabled people to live in mainstream society, and will ensure that thousands of people still living in institutions will be helped to move into the community.





Only time will tell



More than 130 countries who are members of the United Nations have signed the Convention which came into force on May 3rd of this year. In November, six months after the Convention’s entry into force, the United Nations Secretary General will convene the first meeting of the Conference of State Parties, which will elect members of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. But the question is, will the signing and ratification of the Convention by countries around the world change the lives of people with disabilities? Does the political will to change their lives exist, and are there sufficient human and economic resources to ensure these changes take place? Only time will tell.