The Committee supports the Department for International Developmentās Strategy for Disability Inclusive Development, published last year, as a critical step in boosting disability inclusion. Alongside the Global Disability Summit held last summer, it has provided a new focus on how disability issues are addressed in the aid sector and received widespread support from stakeholders over the course of the inquiry.
While early progress has been good, much work still remains to be done. The Strategy will need to prove its value by removing barriers in every facet of life for disabled people in developing countries, including education, employment and access to health and justice. It should develop innovative programmes, ensure provision of affordable assistive technology, and seek to end stigma.
Witnesses Baroness Sugg CBE, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development, Gerard Howe, Head of Inclusive Societies Department, Department for International Development
Witnesses Professor Tom Shakespeare, Professor of Disability Research, School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Dr Ola Abu Alghaib, Director of Global Influencing and Research, Leonard Cheshire; David Constantine, Founding Director, Motivation, Parmi Dheensa, Founder and Executive Director, Include Me TOO, and Julian Eaton, Global Mental Health Advisor, Bond Mental Health and Psychosocial Disabilities Group (at 3.00pm); Mosharraf Hossain, Director of Global Policy, Influencing and Research, ADD International, Juliet Milgate, Director of Policy and Global Advocacy, Sightsavers, and Tom Palmer, Humanitarian Disability Adviser, Humanity and Inclusion (at 3.30pm).
Witnesses Dr Tamsyn Barton, Chief Commissioner, and Paul Spray, Team Leader on ICAI’s Rapid Review into DFID’s approach to disability in development, Independent Commission for Aid Impact; Rt Hon Lord Bates, Minister for International Development, Darren Welch, DFID's Director of Policy, and Rachel Kean, Disability Adviser for the Disability Inclusion Team, Department for International Development (at 10.30am).