in English - Handicap International

Here, the search for inclusive development needs to build two bridges:
• General inclusion: This means promoting better distribution of national
revenues for all excluded sectors that live in conditions of poverty and extreme
poverty.
• Specific inclusion: This means promoting a change in approach and
in the administration of resources allocated by the State to people with disabilities
and their families.
- What has been happening in the realm of disabilities?
1) Poorly focused prevention. Resources are allocated to preventing deficiencies,
but not enough are assigned to the present and future care and
development of disabled people. Sometimes, this is because of the mistaken
assumption that through preventive actions we can make disabilities
disappear.
2) Individual actions. Many individual and specific programs and projects are
promoted and developed which are geared toward attending to people
with disabilities (rather than development). Sometimes these types of actions
are carried out simultaneously by different institutions in an uncoordinated
manner. According to estimates by one World Bank office, individual
strategies for attending to the disabled population in our countries will not
even cover the needs of 5% of this population. And this reduced percentage
is usually concentrated in urban zones, leaving the disabled who live in
rural and more remote zones completely excluded from these programs and
projects.
3) Delegation of responsibilities. Another element is the fact that the State
and its institutions do not assume political or social responsibility for the issue
of disability.
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