MDG 1 and Disability Poverty reduction and eradication of hunger

Outline 1. MDG 1 – What is it? 2. What are the linkages between poverty, hunger and disability? 3. How to achieve MDG 1? 4. PRSP as one instrument to achieve MDG 1

Millennium Development Goal 1 Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Target 1: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day Indicator 1: Proportion of population below $1 (PPP) per day Indicator 2: Poverty gap ratio Indicator 3: Share of poorest quintile in national consumption

Millennium Development Goal 1 Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Target 2: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger Indicator 4: Prevalence of underweight children under-five years of age Indicator 5: Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption

Link between disability and MDG 1 PovertyDisability Poor nutrition Poor health care Poor working conditions Increased vulnerability/risk to become injured/impaired Exclusion from education / employment Excluded from social life Increased living costs Living conditions Exclusion

Disability and poverty – available data  One person in 20 worldwide has a disability, of which more than three out of five live in a developing country (UN figures)  One in five of the world’s poorest have a disability (World Bank estimate)  US$ 1.71–2.23 trillion of global GDP is lost because of disability, which adds up to a rate of between 5.35% and 6.97%.  82% of persons with disabilities live below the poverty line in developing countries (UN figures)

Hunger and disability  20% of impairments are caused by malnutrition  Between 250,000 and 500,000 children go blind every year from Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD)  There are over 16 million mentally handicapped and nearly 49.5 million people with lesser degrees of brain damage due to Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD).  More than half of all pregnant women in the world are anemic, of whom 90% live in developing countries

Disability, poverty and hunger – lack of knowledge  Global figures show trends, but do not explain linkages in detail  Global figures do not show specific circumstances in countries and/or regions

How to achieve MDG 1?  MDG 1 is the central MDG and linked to all other goals  Economic (pro-poor) growth  Social protection  Increased agricultural production  Disaster management

Translation into action  Targets were set based on global trends, not country specific situation  some countries adapted the targets and create national MDGs  Targets define the end of the road, but not the road itself  national/regional policies, programmes, budget and other governmental plans translate the targets into action  Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs)  Programmes and projects of non- governmental development actors

PRSPs  Origin: World Bank and IMF introduced this concept in the late 1990s to have a basis for debt relief, grants and other support to low-income countries  Basic idea: Concerned countries formulate their own strategy leading to poverty reduction and economic growth  Stakeholders: Government, civil society, international donors …

MDG 1 and disability in PRSP – Examples  Tanzanian: “20% of children and adults with disabilities [are] reached with effective social protection measures by 2010”  Ethiopia: “A productive safety net program that includes: A public works program to employ the poor in building roads and other infrastructure during difficult times; and, Free distributions to orphans, the elderly, the disabled, and others who cannot work”

MDG 1 and disability in PRSP – Examples Bangladesh: “Safety Net Programmes (SNPs): in Bangladesh Allowances for the Distressed Disabled Persons (ADDP): In the budget of 2005/06, the Government has introduced allowances for the distressed disabled persons and provided an allocation of Tk 250 million for this purpose.”

Lessons learned from PRSP  If disabled people‘s organisations are involved in the policy formulation, proposed actions will not longer follow a charity- based approach  Empowerment of DPOs and other civil society stakeholders is effective  International NGOs can be facilitator and door-opener  Lack of data and knowledge about disability and poverty makes it difficult ton propose concrete actions

Discussion  What can be done on the level of the developing countries?  On the level of the international community?  Are MDGs really the ultimate goals?