- The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that disabled people make up 10% of the population – around 650 million people.
- 80% of persons with disabilities live in developing countries, according to the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
- Disabled people account for 15 – 20% of the world’s poorest (World Bank, Elwan 1999).
- Women with disabilities are recognized to be multiply disadvantaged, experiencing exclusion on account of their gender and their disability.
- According to UNICEF, 30 per cent of street youths are disabled.
- Although disabled people are amongst the poorest they were not included in rural poverty alleviation programmes (ESCAP, 1999).
- There is no country in the world where disabled people’s rights are not violated (Disability Awareness and Action, Hurst 1999).
- Disabled people of working age in developed and developing countries are 3 times more likely to be unemployed and live in real poverty (DPI, Resource Kit 2003).
- No country has all its transport systems accessible.
- The majority of countries have no free medical care or social security system.
- In many countries, disabled people are unable to place their vote.
- In the UK, 50% of disabled people are economically inactive and disabled women are more than likely to be unemployed than men (Office for National Statistics, 2001).
- Persons with disabilities are more likely to be victims of violence or rape, according to a 2004 British study, and less likely to obtain police intervention, legal protection or preventive care.
- Research indicates that violence against children with disabilities occurs at annual rates at least 1.7 times greater than for their non-disabled peers (UN).
- 98% of children with disabilities in developing countries do not attend school, says UNESCO.
- For every child killed in warfare, three are injured and permanently disabled (UN).
- In Bangladesh, 97% of disabled women are unemployed.
- The global literacy rate for adults with disabilities is as low as 3%, and 1% for women with disabilities, according to a 1998 UNDP study.
Source: Action on Disability & Development. May 2009
