BOND Disability and Development Group Submission to the UK International Development Committee inquiry on the impact of coronavirus

April 16th 2020

Executive Summary

1. The Bond Disability and Development Group (DDG) brings together UK-based mainstream and disability-specific development organisations to ensure that the rights of people with disabilities are included in global development and humanitarian action.

2. The UK government, and the IDC, have demonstrated their commitment to disability inclusive development in recent years and we welcome the UK Parliamentary Inquiry into the impact of coronavirus around the world and the UK Government’s response.

3. Many people with disabilities in developing countries live in poverty due to widespread discrimination and barriers to accessing health care, education and employment. This discriminatory context is often exacerbated at times of crises.  It is, therefore, becoming increasingly clear that people with disabilities are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus.

4. In order to respond to this we recommend the UK Government and its development partners: 

• Operate an effective twin-track approach to ensure all emergency pandemic responses, and re-allocated funds, mainstream disability-inclusion and identify targeted disability measures. 
• Ensure effective consultation and engagement with Disabled People’s Organisations and that all programme assessments are systematically inclusive.
• Ensure all health, quarantine and testing facilities funded by the UK are accessible and medical staff are appropriately trained to work with people with disabilities.
• Ensure all public health communications are accessible and available in multiple formats for example braille, easy read, sign language.
• Address all forms of discrimination against people with disabilities in development programmes, including that which may occur in health facilities, institutions and in humanitarian assistance.
• Monitor disability inclusion and collect disability disaggregated data where data on Covi-19 responses is being collected already to ensure current and future resources are allocated appropriately.
• Update DFID’s humanitarian response guidelines to include references to the UN’s IASC guidelines on the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action.
• Raise disability inclusion with all partners implementing Covid-19 responses and receiving UK aid – including all UN entities and the World Bank – and ensure they are taking concrete steps to ensure their actions are disability-inclusive.

The Need for Disability Inclusion in UK Government Responses

5. The member organisations of the DDG represent a large body of experience based on direct work with people with disabilities, their organisations and the disability movement in developing countries, as well as advocacy and policy engagement with service providers and policymakers across the world. As a result, the DDG is able to draw on a broad and deep understanding of the discrimination faced by persons with disabilities, the links between disability and poverty, and the importance of including disability within development and humanitarian processes.

6. The UK’s commitment to disability-inclusive development, and its ability to influence bilateral and multilateral development partners, will be crucial in the immediate and long-term future as the relationship between poverty, disability and the coronavirus is becoming increasingly clear.

7. We welcome the UK Parliamentary Inquiry into the impact of coronavirus virus infections and the Covid-19 disease in developing countries and the UK Government’s response. This submission outlines the current situation and immediate risks and threats, based on feedback from across our membership. We will also prepare a submission outlining longer term issues, implications and lessons to be learned for the International Development Committee’s (IDC) May 8th deadline.

8. The UK government, and the IDC, have demonstrated their commitment to disability inclusive development in recent years[1]. Through its Strategy for Disability Inclusive Development, the Department for International Development (DFID), have committed to playing a leading role[2] on what is increasingly recognised as a critical development issue.

9. Many people with disabilities in developing countries live in poverty due to widespread discrimination and barriers accessing health care, education and employment. This discriminatory context is often exacerbated at times of crises.  It is, therefore, becoming increasingly clear that people with disabilities are disproportionately affected by the Covid-19[3].

10. In many low- and middle-income settings the hygiene measures that are required to help prevent the spread of Covid-19, including hand-basins, sinks and communal water pumps, are inaccessible. The introduction of strict quarantine measures and social distancing have in many cases hugely disrupted the daily lives of people with disabilities who cannot access their right to care, assistance and rehabilitation on a daily basis, placing huge strains on vital support systems[4].

11. For people with disabilities who are older, or come from particularly marginalised groups, these risks are heightened further. It is important to note than women and girls are facing increased risks and barriers – during crises there is often an increase of gender-based violence or sexual assault. The closure of schools has also removed an important channel of support for many children with disabilities in developing countries, not just in terms of education but in some settings vital services including food support programmes and mechanism for reporting safeguarding incidents.

12. A critical issue facing people with disabilities in many countries is the inaccessibility of public health messages, guidance and quarantine measures. People with disabilities are not being made aware of the latest public health messages, how to access relief and social distancing rules. In some cases this has led to violent attacks from mechanisms of state. For example, the International Disability Alliance have gathered reports of people who are deaf – who have not been made aware of quarantine rules due to the lack of sign language interpretation – experiencing violence at the hands of police when breaking social curfews they are not being made aware of[5]. There are also cases of a lack of protocols to ensure emergency relief, health care facilities and provisions, and testing that are not accessible.

13. The restrictions on movement and lack of accessible public information, means an increased use of the internet by people with disabilities. Many medical support services and health guidelines have been shared online and there is an increased risk of scams aimed at persons at risk, including some people with disabilities[6].

14. Some people with disabilities are dependent on support workers who, due to restrictions on movement, are unable to travel to provide vital personal care. In cases where support workers are providing care the people with disabilities they support have an increased risk of contracting COVID-19. Many support workers are uncontracted workers or in unstable employment and are unlikely to be able to maintain secure employment during the pandemic These support workers may seek alternative employment and be unable to continue to provide this care following the pandemic.[7]

15. Covid-19 is exacerbating existing issues in areas experiencing humanitarian crises, conflict and displacement. Humanity and Inclusion have found that ‘in the context of crises 75% of persons with disabilities report that they do not have adequate access to basic assistance such as water, shelter, food or health’[8]. This demonstrates measures taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19 may not help the people who are most vulnerable to protect themselves.

16. The pandemic also highlights the interdependency between mental health and development. Covid-19 and the responses to it will likely contribute to social determinants of poor mental health. This includes not just the traumatic impacts of illness and death, but the impact of disrupted education, economic pressures, overcrowded living spaces and increased intimate partner violence[9].

17. The relationship between Covid-19 and disability exposes many forms of discrimination that are denying people with disabilities their rights. Many of the responses to mitigate the pandemic are also contributing to dangerous narratives that people with disabilities cannot contribute to the response and even that their lives are not as valuable, or worth saving, as others. These actions directly contravene the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities[10].

18. The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities has flagged that more must be done to address this urgent issue, and reported that people with disabilities continue to be excluded from mainstream development programmes and humanitarian response, and not enough has been done “to provide people with disabilities with the guidance and support needed to protect them[11]” in the response to the pandemic.

19. This is unfortunately reflected in our members’ experience at national level. Though several developing countries were quick to develop contingency plans, these do not specifically reference people with disabilities and the importance of including them in the response[12].

20. However, our members have evidence of the vital role that Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) and broader civil society, are playing during the outbreak. DPOs working at the grassroots level are staying in close contact with their members, providing vital information and services[13].

21. Ensuring the sustainability of national partners – whose survival in the long term will ensure the rights of people with disabilities are protected – is vital. This does raise the issue of ensuring funding measures are flexible enough to cover staff and overhead costs during periods of reduced programme activity, and protecting partners from being over-stretched when programmes resume in full through costed project extensions[14].

DDG Recommendations

22. We welcome the UK Government’s scale up of its international response to Covid-19. This support will be crucial in limiting the impact of the pandemic on the poorest countries in the world. As a committed leader on disability-inclusive development, the UK has an opportunity to ensure people with disabilities are not left behind or discriminated against in the response to this crisis.

23. We recommend the UK government and its development partners: 
1. In line with an effective twin-track approach, ensure all emergency, pandemic response, and re-allocated funds, mainstream disability-inclusion and identify targeted disability measures where appropriate including continuation of care for people with complex health needs. 
2. Ensure effective consultation and engagement with Disabled People’s Organisations and all programme assessments are systematically inclusive.
3. Ensure all health, quarantine and testing facilities funded by the UK are accessible and medical staff are appropriately trained to work with people with disabilities.
4. Ensure all public health communications are accessible and available in multiple formats, including sign language interpretation, closed captioning and consider the rights of people with multiple disabilities and their interpreters, including people with deafblindness who will require tactile interpretation which may require additional preventative measures during the pandemic.
5. Address all forms of discrimination against people with disabilities in development programmes, including that which may occur in health facilities, institutions and in humanitarian assistance and ensure all forms of communications do not discriminate or reinforce negative stereotypes.
6. Monitor disability inclusion and collect disability disaggregated data where data on Covi-19 responses is being collected already to ensure current and future resources are allocated appropriately.
7. Update DFID’s humanitarian response guidelines to include references to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Guidelines on the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action[15], and provide further detail on the use of the Washington Group Question Sets[16] in Humanitarian settings.
8. Raise disability inclusion with all partners implementing Covid-19 responses and receiving UK aid – including all UN entities and the World Bank – and ensure they are taking concrete steps to ensure their actions are disability-inclusive.

24. The Covid-19 pandemic has underlined the importance of global co-operation. It has also highlighted the importance of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and their central message of leaving no one behind. It is vital that the international community urgently works together to address the rights of people with disabilities in the immediate response, and to ensure a genuinely inclusive long-term recovery.

For further information please contact the co-chairs via the Bond DDG website www.bond.org.uk/DDG

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