Escaping Stigma and Neglect Working paper 164 – forthcoming Giuseppe Zampaglione Mirey Ovadiya Africa Human Development 2 With support from the Disability and Development Team World Bank People with Disabilities in Sierra Leone

Objective of the Policy Note a) Provide a diagnosis on the scale and nature of the problem; b) Analyse current public policies in support of People with Disabilities; c) Review public and private programs and; d) Propose policy options to policy makers and development partners.

A. Diagnosis Poverty a cause and consequence of disability

A. Prevalence of Disability in Sierra Leone 2004 Census prevalence of disability at 2.4% Likely to be underestimated – Census only captures severe physical disability not including mental disability Reasonable global estimate is 10-12% prevalence Estimated 5% of HHs have one or more disabled person

A. Nature of Disability

A. Geographic Distribution Incidence of People with Disabilities higher in the South and East, and more pronounced in rural areas than in urban ones. – People with Disabilities more concentrated in the Southern (2.9%) and Eastern regions (2.8%), followed by the Northern (2.2%) and the Western (1.7%) regions.

A. Access to Basic Services and Employment Access to Health Access to Education Access to Transport/Mobility Income and employment

B. Policy Framework in support of PWD Legal Framework Institutional Environment and Policies – Constitution – Parliament – TRC – Human Rights Commission of SL – Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children Affairs – NaCSA

C. Public and Private Programs in support of PWD Public Programs NGO implemented programs Successes to date Challenges – Funding – Involve more CSO – communities – Strenghten DPOs – Definition

B. Definition beyond the emergency From: People made disabled by an act of violence during the war/ People with a preexistent or war unrelated disability To : All Sierra Leoneans were disabled by the war and all people with a disability were victims of the war

D. Policy Options Grouped as: – (i) measures that will specifically target people with disabilities and – (ii) measures that will work to mainstream disability issues through sector programs.

D. Policy Options (2) The recommended measures are grouped under three categories: – (i) knowledge building and analysis; – (ii) strengthening of the legal and institutional framework; and – (iii) amelioration of public and private service coverage and financing

D. Knowledge building

D. Coverage and financing

D. Legal and Institutional Framework

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