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Disability facts

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that disabled people make up 10% of the population - around 650 million people.
• 80% of persons with disabilities live in developing countries, according to the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
• Disabled people account for 15 – 20% of the world’s poorest (World Bank, Elwan 1999).
• Women with disabilities are recognized to be multiply disadvantaged, experiencing exclusion on account of their gender and their disability.
• According to UNICEF, 30 per cent of street youths are disabled.
• Although disabled people are amongst the poorest they were not included in rural poverty alleviation programmes (ESCAP, 1999).
• There is no country in the world where disabled people’s rights are not violated (Disability Awareness and Action, Hurst 1999).
• Disabled people of working age in developed and developing countries are 3 times more likely to be unemployed and live in real poverty (DPI, Resource Kit 2003).
• No country has all its transport systems accessible.
• The majority of countries have no free medical care or social security system.
• In many countries, disabled people are unable to place their vote.
• In the UK, 50% of disabled people are economically inactive and disabled women are more than likely to be unemployed than men (Office for National Statistics, 2001).
• Persons with disabilities are more likely to be victims of violence or rape, according to a 2004 British study, and less likely to obtain police intervention, legal protection or preventive care.
• Research indicates that violence against children with disabilities occurs at annual rates at least 1.7 times greater than for their non-disabled peers (UN).
• 98% of children with disabilities in developing countries do not attend school, says UNESCO.
• For every child killed in warfare, three are injured and permanently disabled (UN).
• In Bangladesh, 97% of disabled women are unemployed.
• The global literacy rate for adults with disabilities is as low as 3%, and 1% for women with disabilities, according to a 1998 UNDP study.
• ADD has directly supported over 170,000 disabled people since 1985 and many more indirectly through changes to legislation etc.

It is important to bear in mind that facts are very hard to obtain as so many disabled people are hidden and anonymous with regard to official statistics.

 “The bad thoughts I had because I was blind and an orphan are not there now.  Joining the group allowed me to share experiences with other blind women.  Before I used to dress myself very badly, I didn’t care for myself because I thought no one else cared for me.  I feared to put on shoes, I thought if I wore shoes people would laugh and say 'look at that blind girl wearing shoes'.  It was as soon as I came back from training that I got shoes and since then I have worn them.” (Santa 2006)