Disabled People and the Post-2015 Development Goal Agenda through a Disability Studies Lens

Abstract

Abstract:The purpose of this study was to examine the role and visibility of disabled people in the discourses of various global policy processes related to sustainable development and the Post-2015 development agenda. This article makes several recommendations for strengthening the role of disabled people in these discourses. The research addresses the question of how the disability community and sustainable development community relate to each other in these discourses. This study provides quantitative and qualitative data on three aspects of the relationship. One set of data highlights who is seen as a stakeholder in general and the visibility of disabled people in the social sustainability, sustainable consumption, Rio+20 and Post-2015 development agenda proposals discourses and what participants of the online consultation for a disability inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond had to say about the issues of visibility of disabled people in development discourses. A second set of data illuminates the attitudes towards disabled people evident in the SD discourses including through the eyes of the participant of the online consultation for a disability inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond. The final set of data compares the goals and actions seen as desirable for the advancement of SD evident in the SD literature covered and the online consultation for a disability inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond. This study interpreted the data through a disability studies lens. The study found that OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2013, 5 4153 disabled people were barely visible to invisible in the SD literature covered, that the goals and actions proposed in the SD discourses are of high relevance to disabled people but that these discussions have generally not been explicitly linked to disabled people. It found further that disabled people have clear ideas why they are invisible, what the problems with development policies are and what needs to happen to rectify the problems. It found also that there was a lack of visibility of various SD areas and goals within the disability discourse. This paper provides empirical data that can be used to further the goal of mainstreaming of disabled people into the SD and Post-2015 development discourses as asked for in various high-level UN documents. However, we posit that the utility of our paper goes beyond the disability angle. Our quantitative data also highlights other forms of social group visibility unevenness in the literature and as such, we argue that the data we present in this paper is also of use for other stakeholders such as youth, women and indigenous people and also for NGOs and policy makers.

Analysis of Newspaper Coverage of Food Security through a Disability Studies Lens

“…The UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, states in article 28: "States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions, and shall take appropriate steps to safeguard and promote the realization of this right without discrimination on the basis of disability" (United Nations, 2007). The lack of food security was mentioned numerous times by participants of a recent online consultation for a disability inclusive development agenda towards 2015 & beyond which was moderated by two leading international disability organizations and which gave voice to disabled people on numerous development issues (Wolbring, Mackay, Rybchinski, & Noga, 2013). Various sources reported on food insecurity experienced by disabled people (Hiranandani & Sonpal, 2010;D.…”

Three necessary conditions for establishing effective Sustainable Development Goals in the Anthropocene

“…There are of course many other contentious and multifaceted issues that need to be navigated by the SDG process; for example, issues of equity, the contested relationship between "good governance" and sustainability, and the visibility unevenness of certain social groups (Wolbring et al 2013). However, the Anthropocene poses particular challenges for how a strong and legitimate successor to the MDGs needs to be designed and formulated.…”

Sustainability within the Academic EcoHealth Literature: Existing Engagement and Future Prospects

“…However, the same article mentioned that other targets of sustainable consumption are also covered such as food (n = 108), environment (n = 72), water (n = 66), products for households and people (n = 48), energy (n = 46), economics/income (n = 15), shrimps, living sea resources and forests (n = 11), tourism and electronics/technology and employees (n = 10). Two targets were mentioned (n = 8); one target (n = 6) and one target (n = 5); six targets were mentioned (n = 4) and six (n = 3) [110]. There were 14 targets that were mentioned (n = 2) and 29 targets that were mentioned (n = 1) [110].…”

“…Although the outcome documents seem to focus mostly on sustainable consumption in relation to natural resources, there are many areas outside of natural resources where sustainable consumption plays a role, such as healthcare [109]. A recent article [110] showed that if one searches Google Scholar TM (Mountain View, CA, USA) for "sustainable consumption" that the target for sustainable consumption mentioned the most was natural resources (n = 109) [110]. However, the same article mentioned that other targets of sustainable consumption are also covered such as food (n = 108), environment (n = 72), water (n = 66), products for households and people (n = 48), energy (n = 46), economics/income (n = 15), shrimps, living sea resources and forests (n = 11), tourism and electronics/technology and employees (n = 10).…”