Behinderung und internationale Entwicklung Disability and ...

A RTIKEL/ARTICLEA Fair Share from the Development Pie : Disability in theEthiopian Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers ProcessDagnachew B. WakeneWhile a plethora of local and international development pundits have written, and continue to write, extensivelyon Ethiopia’s ongoing economic boom, little has been said about if and how this acclaimed development enterpriseaims to accommodate an often ostracised, cross-sectoral socio-economic theme, viz. disability. This article [1]provides an analytical glimpse at the extent of disability inclusion in the Ethiopian development agenda vis-à-visthe role and impact thereon of the country’s disability movement [2], with a particular emphasis on Poverty ReductionStrategy Papers (PRSPs). The paper offers disability stakeholders in Ethiopia, as well as those in other countrieswith similar socio-economic stature to that of Ethiopia, a timely evidence that would encourage further researchundertakings and inform relevant policy interventions.Background“Where, after all, do universal humanrights begin? In small places, close tohome - so close and so small that theycannot be seen on any maps of the world.Yet they are the world of the individualperson; the neighbourhood he lives in;the school or college he attends; the factory,farm, or office where he works. Suchare the places where every man, woman,and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity,equal dignity without discrimination.Unless these rights have meaningthere, they have little meaning anywhere.Without concerted citizen action to upholdthem close to home, we shall look in vainfor progress in the larger world”(Eleanor Roosevelt 1948: unpaged).The above quote is, I believe, a brief, yet profuselyillustrative, encapsulation of what it pragmaticallymeans to create an all-inclusive societyin which everyone can fully participate - thevery premise on which this article bases itself.The now Federal Democratic Republic ofEthiopia is a country of three thousand yearsold, located in East-Central Africa (commonlyknown as the Horn of Africa region). It coversan area of over 1,127,127 square kilometres,making it the ninth largest country in Africa(see Figure 1). According to the latest NationalPopulation and Housing Census carried out in2007 by the Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency(CSA), Ethiopia is currently the second mostpopulous nation in Africa with an estimated populationof over 80 million, just next to Nigeria.Poverty and inadequate socio-economic participationof persons with disabilities (PWDs)have, since time immemorial, been the distinctivefeatures of the disability sector and movementin Ethiopia (ENAELP 2004). Persons withdisabilities form part of every community andFigure 1: The Official Map of Ethiopiaoften represent the majority of the most disadvantagedand underprivileged sections ofsociety (Reed 2005). Studies have shown whatthey describe as the intrinsic linkage betweenpoverty and disability, whereby the former canbe considered as both the cause and consequenceof the latter (UNCSD 2008). These factualassertions become evident when we lookat the situation in Ethiopia - one of the leastdeveloped nations in the world where the bi-directionallink between disability and povertycan noticeably be observed.Disability in Ethiopia:A Bird’s Eye ViewNeedless to say, the definitions accorded to theterm disability in the Ethiopian context, as inother countries, have significantly changed overthe years in tandem with corresponding changesin international outlook and standards. TheBehinderung und internationale Entwicklung 3/2012Disability and International Development15