Global-Report-Living-Colour-dr2-2

Inclusive Communities = Stronger Communities
GLOBAL REPORT ON ARTICLE 19: THE RIGHT TO LIVE AND BE INCLUDED IN THE COMMUNITY
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different expectations in different cultures about the
extent to which individuals are “free” to make their
own choices or instead bound by what the
community deems appropriate for their social status.
‰ The strength of civil society
Overlapping with these issues of family structure and
culture is the nature of community and the forms of
voluntary organisation which societies encourage. In
some high income countries, traditional social capital
(e.g. in extended family structures) is
weak but there are many ways in which
citizens can come together voluntarily
for mutual aid and to advance their
interests, as indeed we see in some of
the family associations which
constitute our movement. In other
developed countries such as the
former Soviet bloc, non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) are both a recent
and a relatively fragile network for
supporting people with intellectual
disabilities and their families. In other
societies such as in Africa and Asia,
there is very strong social capital but it
is based on traditional clan and local authority
structures. Choices and control for many people in
those cultures are dictated by the clan or tribe.
‰ Economic development and social inequality
Beyond these social connections there are of course
also massive global inequalities in the extent of
economic development and the distribution of
access to the world’s material resources. Within
countries too there can be huge disparities in wealth
(including between urban and rural areas) and
therefore in the resources available for action, e.g. to
fund support for people with disabilities and their
families. Indeed the absolute poverty experienced by