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Although a growing body of research is exploring the links between disability and poverty, the evidence that persons with disabilities are more likely to be poor than their non-disabled counterpart remains scarce. The causal relationship between disability and poverty has most often been considered in terms of disparities in income or living conditions. However, some research strongly suggests that disability is associated with deprivation in a number of other dimensions. To date, no study has examined these associations using large scale surveys with a wide range of wellbeing dimensions and indicators using a multidimensional approach. The present paper presents findings of three multidimensional poverty measures based on 17 indicators of deprivation collected through large-scale household surveys in Morocco and Tunisia. These indicators cover a wide range of dimensions of poverty such as health, education, employment, material well-being, social participation, psychological well-being and physical security. Results confirm that persons with disabilities are poorer than non-disabled people in both countries. The study shows that persons with disabilities, particularly girls and women, rural residents, and those with intellectual, mental or multiple disabilities are particularly deprived of basic capabilities and functionings and that stigma plays a role in this social injustice. Civil society organizations should take the lead to promote awareness of social and emotional well-being of persons with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Education for children with disabilities in Afghanistan, particularly disabled girls, continues to lag behind despite laudable efforts of the Ministry of Education to promote universal access for all. The opportunity for education constitutes not just a means of achieving learning outcomes but also a space for social interaction, individual development and psychosocial support, which are paramount in Conflict-Affected Fragile States (CAFS). However, many persisting barriers still need to be overcome in Afghanistan to allow education for all and change negative attitudes towards education of children with disabilities. In this paper we argue that viewing education as a basic commodity, which is the widespread practice in CAFS, is not conducive to expanding human freedoms and capabilities. More specifically, through analyses of a national survey, we demonstrate that despite considerable resources, increasing access to education in Afghanistan has maintained processes of marginalisation of the already excluded. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the early 1990s, UNESCO estimated that perhaps 97% of the world's 650 million disabled persons were unable to read or write, leading to significant efforts throughout the developing world to ensure that all children with disabilities attended school through ‘inclusive education’ programmes. But what of the vast majority of persons with disabilities who now are adolescents or adults, well beyond the reach of classroom education, or the estimated 90% of disabled children who will still ‘age out’ of the system before such inclusive education is available in their communities? In this paper, we review findings from a global literature search on literacy of adults with disability in developing countries which shows that there is currently little in international development, education, health or disability research policies or programmes that addresses this issue. On the basis of these findings we argue that while inclusive education efforts for children are important, more attention also needs to be directed to providing literacy skills to illiterate and marginally literate disabled adolescents and adults. A concerted effort to improve access to basic literacy and numeracy skills through both inclusion in general adult literacy programmes and disability-specific adult literacy programmes is urgently needed to reach the goals for education and poverty eradication established by the new United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and by the Millennium Development Goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between capabilities, well-being and the impact of development efforts in Afghanistan. Using data from a nationally representative survey, it is argued that very vulnerable groups maintain a positive perception of well-being by referring to collective values and practices. The data suggest that deprivation of individual basic capabilities does not systematically lead to a low perception of well-being if individuals have access to other capabilities such as love, care and participation in community affairs. Nevertheless, access to basic capabilities remains crucial in order to ensure that social norms and expectations cease to constitute constraints and become factors through which agency and empowerment are enhanced. The results also show the dangers of tackling inequalities by designing policies that target individuals isolated from the group. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Humanitarian crises as a result of conflict are often characterised by failure of the social contract between the state and its citizens. For a variety of reasons, children with disabilities are often particularly vulnerable in time of humanitarian crisis. This paper draws on research undertaken by the authors in a series of countries affected by conflict and looks at how the politics and policies of such countries, and the humanitarian and development agencies working in them, continue to exclude children with disabilities from formal and informal education structures. It will be argued that this exclusion not only impedes progress on inclusive education, but also has wider implications as education programmes are often the conduit through which a number of additional child protection mechanisms are implemented. Children with disabilities who are not in the formal education system are therefore at risk not only of missing out on education opportunities, but are also excluded from critical child survival initiatives, thus increasing their vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Climate change may be the most pressing existential threat to human health and wellbeing in the twenty first century. In this paper, the authors provide context and critique on barriers to climate action in the United States and other high-income countries, including the profit-driven approach to health, consumerism, and the climate change countermovement. The reciprocal connections between occupational engagement and climate damage are examined from a lens of collective and irresponsible occupations and subsequent accountability. The authors propose the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals as a basis for recommendations occupational therapy practitioners could implement within the priorities of adaptation, mitigation, and resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking a capability approach perspective, our paper aims at advancing our understanding of poverty in Afghanistan, and at identifying the most deprived, including persons with disabilities, in order to address the first Sustainable Development Goal to eradicate poverty in all its forms. We used data from a national survey carried out in Afghanistan in 2005. We calculated one index using two weights structures, the adjusted headcount ratio, part of the multidimensional poverty measures. Following a participatory process, we identified and validated 13 indicators clustered in seven dimensions of poverty, including three usually neglected dimensions. Findings suggest that exploring various domains of deprivation would better inform poverty eradication policies than an approach focused only on income. Our results also demonstrate that nearly all Afghan adults are deprived in at least one dimension and those residing in rural areas, from minority ethnic groups, women, elderly people and persons disabled at birth or of an unknown cause are the poorest of the poor. Efforts to improve well-being must acknowledge these inequalities so that public policies in Afghanistan aiming at alleviating poverty take these disparities into account, when facing a reduction in available resources. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]