1. 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

2. 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

3. 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”

4. 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:
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”

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. Regional Meetings
Some observations….so far

9. 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)

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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