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Inclusive Communities = Stronger Communities
GLOBAL REPORT ON ARTICLE 19: THE RIGHT TO LIVE AND BE INCLUDED IN THE COMMUNITY
While people with
intellectual disabilities
seemed to fare better in
accessing health care
than education and
employment, care
tends to be delivered
through disability
specific programmes
and services and is not
delivered on an equal
basis with others in the
community. People
with intellectual
disabilities are more
likely to live in poverty
and people who are
poor are much less
likely to access health
care in both high and
low income countries.
Figure 11: Characteristics of the health services for people
with disability. Country Profiles survey
Barriers to inclusion may be attitudinal or exist in policy or
law. Several key issues were identified as critical factors in
the exclusion faced by people with intellectual disabilities
from their communities.
Key Issues:
‰ Societal Attitudes
The overwhelming message from self-advocates and
families was that communities and societal attitudes
including religious beliefs were negative towards the
inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities. Fear,
prejudice and ignorance characterized the response
from communities when people who had been
excluded previously attempted to participate. A
mother in Russia told us “I wanted to take my child to
the children’s party devoted to the New Year
celebration, but they didn’t let me. This is the attitude
not only of our society but also of government and