UN Regional Meetings on Disability Measurement and Statistics in support of 2030 Agenda for SD and 2020 World Population and Housing Census Programme: Some Observations Margaret Mbogoni Focal Person – UNSD Disability Statistics Programme Demographic and Social Statistics Statistics Division, DESA

New opportunities for disability statistics and measurement 2020 World PHC Programme recognizes population and housing censuses as source of data designed to generate valuable statistics and indicators for assessing the situation of various special population groups, such as persons with disabilities (ECOSOC Res. E/RES/2015/10) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes persons with disabilities as one of the vulnerable peoples and calls for their empowerment commits to enhance capacity-building support to developing countries to increase availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by disability

New opportunities for disability statistics and measurement SDGs indicators “agreed” upon at 47th Session of UN Statistical Commission - March 2016 11 indicators specific on disaggregation by disability status In addition, indicators’ framework recognizes that “Sustainable Development Goal indicators should be disaggregated, where relevant, by income, sex, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability and geographic location, or other characteristics, in accordance with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics”

UNSD Disability Statistics Programme in Support of the 2030 Agenda Strengthening Disability Statistics in Support of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Funding: Government of Australia Implementation: United Nations Statistics Division Duration: 2015-2019 Overall objective: “to enhance the capacity of national statistical offices to produce and disseminate good quality and fit-for-purpose statistics on disability for evidence-based policy making and monitoring”

UNSD Disability Statistics Programme in Support of the 2030 Agenda As practical starting point, UNSD organizing Regional meetings to: review national experiences in disability measurement, including challenges faced and lessons learnt during 2010 censuses discuss compilation of disability-related SDG indicators for monitoring progress towards inclusion of persons with disabilities in development programmes Asia (South and South-East) – July 2016 Caribbean – September 2016 Africa – November 2016 Arabic-speaking countries – December 2016 Latin America –March 2017 Central Asia and Western Balkan States – April 2017

Participation in Regional Meetings Asia (South and South-East) – July 2016 19 countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, China (Hong Kong), Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Viet Nam, UNSD, UNESCAP, UNESCO regional office, UNCEF regional office, and WHO Caribbean – September 2016 14 countries - Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Turks and Caicos Islands, UNSD, UNICEF (regional office), UNFPA (regional Office), and WG

Participation in Regional Meetings Africa – November 2016 – 14 countries Cameroon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, UNSD, WG

Regional Meetings Some observations….so far

Different Methodologies Substantial increase over time in disability data availability Number of countries collecting data on disability increased from 19 during 1970 round to at least 116 during 2010 round But also….. Differences in national practices in disability measurement Methodology Conceptualization and implied definition of disability Terminology used (e.g., seeing, sight, vision) Questions asked (type, wording, included items, response options) Coverage (incl/excl of children, inst. population, homeless) Use of international standards and guidelines Operational aspects (type of respondent, mode of data collection)

Operational Issues Type of respondent (self-response or proxy) Oral translation of questions in the field Translating and interpreting into local languages some disability terms Willingness of public to provide information due to stigma attached to disability, with potential for under-counting General lack of qualified enumerators to collect data on disability Different modes of data collection

Data Sources Population & housing censuses main source for data on disability Observed differences by region in use of household surveys as source of data on disability General lack of comparability between questions asked in the census and the survey SIDS challenged in use of sample surveys to collect data on disability Small population bases coupled with small numbers of identified persons with disabilities Data dissagregated at country or high geographic level Some countries expressed caution on adding a disability module to other surveys because not all surveys are appropriately designed for disability measurement

Data Sources Administrative data sources Fragmentation of sources with a lack of linkage and harmonization of their content Coverage of administrative sources may be limited to a particular population of interest Recognition that this source of data on disability should be strengthened and exploited

Data for SDGs Monitoring Recognition that to fulfil new SDGs indicators requirements on the status of persons with disabilities, an unprecedented amount of statistics will need to be produced by National Statistical Systems Countries recognize complementarity of different data sources with their associated strengths and limitations for measuring disability Existing data collection mechanisms are not adequate to meet the reporting demands for the 2030 Development Agenda Exploitation of multiple sources and associated challenges Example of Asia: data on disability has increased over the time Still gaps in availability of data especially on disaggregation by characteristics of persons with disabilities, e.g., labour statistics Differences among countries and variations within countries, in the availability of data for the Incheon Strategy indicators on poverty, employment, education, accessibility, and health

Way Forward Harmonized approach to data collection Guidelines Use of ICF for standardized terminology and definitions Washington Group approach (for and against) Guidelines Develop guidelines with harmonized measurement standards for data collection, dissemination and analysis encompassing censuses, surveys and administrative sources Capacity building Enhance the capacity of national offices through appropriate training Technical assistance in data collection, analysis and dissemination Strengthen communication between national and international stakeholders to identify needs for and how to implement training Strengthening administrative datasets through harmonization and coordination with other sources

Way Forward Data collection (statistics and metadata) – in collaboration with regional organizations, mainly UN Regional Commissions Outcome of regional meetings and analysis of information on country practices to feed into more detailed technical and operational international guidelines on the measurement of disability Capacity building Training workshops Direct assistance to countries Fostering South-South cooperation Use of censuses for SDGs monitoring

Way Forward UNSD aims at improving coordination among agencies working on development of disability measures, through an inter-agency and expert group on disability statistics, to be established by the UN Statistical Commission