Empowering People with Disabilities Globally - A Research Paper Example

Reports show that more than a billion people around the globe have been living with some form of disability. This means that almost 15% of all national population internationally are likely to have a person with a disability. Most people with disability engage the Disabled Persons Organizations (DPOs) concerning their policy advocacy. The same process is followed when organizing various operations with the United Nations system. There have been increased efforts towards the participation of multi-stakeholders in the global governance, and this has promoted the opening up of opportunities for the involvement of the civil society. However, there not be ample enablement of individuals with disabilities in their involvement in the UN system (Wolbring, Mackay, Rybchinski & Noga, 2013). The DPOs possess substantial influence on the UN Convention concerning the rights of people who are disabled and the annual Conference of State Parties. When the COSP is not involved, there many factors that prevent the involvement of individuals with disabilities in the process entailing global governance. For some time, sustainable development has been a point of discussion. Its definition has been the developments that encompasses fulfilling the present need without the compromise of the ability to fulfill the needs of the future generations. Concerning sustainable development, there are two fundamentals concepts (Webster & Ravnborg, 2016). First, there is the question of needs and mostly for the poorest in the world and the need to have an overriding priority. Secondly, there is the question of limitations that have been presented by the present by technological developments and the organization of the society concerning the ability to fulfill the immediate needs and those of the future. This research encompasses the empowerment of people with disabilities globally.

The Real Condition of the Disabled People in the Millennium Development Goals Discourse

The SD discourse resulted in the formulation of the Millennium Development Goals. Various encompassing goals were generated, and their objective was addressing the needs of persons who are the poorest and marginalization in the international arena. This goal which was constituted in 2000 was supposed to be achieved by the year 2015 (Wolbring et al., 2013). Efforts were instituted to try and incorporate the sustainable development with the development agenda after 2015. However, from this discourse, disabled people were neglected.

According to the UN Convention, it is must for the integration of the rights of individuals with disabilities in various international operations with the inclusion of international development programs. This means these international programs must include and be accessible to individuals with disabilities. The UN General Assembly documented many suggestions concerning the MDGs and the need to have persons with disabilities at the center stage since 2007. Additionally, there are quite some reports availed by the Secretary-General of the UN concerning the issue. The report by the Secretary-General on "Keeping the Promise: Realizing MDGs for Persons with Disabilities Towards 2015 and Beyond" had enumerated various recommendations (Webster & Ravnborg, 2016). These include synchronizing the disparity in different global normative models on disability with the Convection inclusive and World Program of Action in addition in addition to the Standard Rules. Another recommendation with the inclusion of individuals with disabilities in implementing, monitoring and evaluations the progress of the MDGs. It was also recommended that individuals with disabilities be involved in the correcting disability data and statistics through the utilization of well-laid techniques and procedures (Wolbring et al., 2013). Secretary-General also recommends formulating disability programs including the short, medium and long-term goals for the incorporation of their concerns into the MDGs. This would ensure that there is equal access to social protection and programs by the persons with or without disabilities (Webster & Ravnborg, 2016). It was also suggested accessibility should be ensured in all aspects of the MDG processes in addition to increasing awareness of disability. It was also pointed out that issues concerning MDG and creation of capability and collaborations should be formulated to include persons with disability and the concerned government institutions, legal groups, social organizations and academic institutions among others (Wolbring et al., 2013).

Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities

In the adoption and integration of the framework on MDG, the persons with disabilities have been neglected despite them constituting approximately 15% of the global population. Additionally, persons with disabilities' representation have been neglected in the MDGs' planning, development, adoption and monitoring. However, there has been a big change in that there has been a significant inclusion of individuals with disabilities in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. They have also been strongly involved in the global indicator framework, and their inclusion is mandated in the SDGs' implementation and monitoring (Wolbring et al., 2013). The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals have an overriding principle who role is to ensure the inclusion of everyone and no one is left behind (Webster & Ravnborg, 2016). This effect, the SDGs recommend that there is a disaggregation of data by disability from all member states. Additionally, the SDGs global indicator framework documents the various indicators concerning the issue of disability. The disaggregation of data by the status of disability means monitoring activities can be carried out on the 2030 Agenda activities (Wolbring et al., 2013). This will help in the documentation of the individuals with disabilities and whether they are being left out or otherwise. It is also provided in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the guiding principles concerning necessary information should be collected and maintained. This is with the inclusion of statistics and data from research concerning people with disabilities. Among these statistics include the safeguards that have been instituted such as data safeguard legislation, the privacy of people with disabilities especially concerning their respect and confidentiality. Also, there are ethical principles and the accepted norms appropriate for the safeguard of rights. There is the availability of data collection tools necessary for the provision of efficient ways of disaggregating indicators of the SDG (Wolbring et al., 2013). They will also provide the ability to monitor the levels of compliance with the provisions of CRPD. Organizations such as the Washington Group on Disability Statistics in collaboration with the UN Statistical Commission Group have formulated and tested various questions (Webster & Ravnborg, 2016). The objective is that these questions which concern child functioning can be included in the continuing data collections operations to ensure the availability of information necessary for disaggregation. The role of civil society with the inclusion of organizations of individuals with disabilities cannot be understated (Wolbring et al., 2013). The role is not only on contributing to the collection of appropriate data buy they also are a source of this data. It entails the opportunities available for the DPOs and disabled individuals to be major contributors to the gathering of data concerning the SDGS. It also helps in the provision of direction to National Statistical Offices at various levels. This include at the global, regional and national. This is mostly on the implementation of the statistics provided by the Washington Group on the described questions concerning disability.

Big Data Analytics and Text Mining

The activities to monitor and the implement key global policy frameworks for the individuals with disabilities are essential as per the agreements that have been reached. This is exactly what is going on with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The event "Big Data Analytics and Text Mining: Monitoring and Evaluating Disability and Development for SDGs and CRPD Implementation" were critical on the presentation of examples of the potential use of big data and text mining in the studies that help in the operations of monitoring, evaluating and implementation ((TA3.02) Collecting disability data, 2017). Additionally, they contribute to the nearing 2018 Flagship Report concerning the Disability and Development as necessitated by the UN General Assembly. Stakeholders have seen the potential that computational text mining has in the extraction of trends and concerns as discussed by the experts and policymakers on issues of disability. The usefulness and effectiveness of these techniques have been shown by the IDPP and UN DESA. This was demonstrated in the evaluation of CRPD State Party Reports and Shadow Reports in the establishment of international priorities and progress in the implementation of the Convention ((TA3.02) Collecting disability data, 2017). The IDPP has also demonstrated this efficacy through the analysis of annual reports from key international development organizations in the evaluation of the process concerning the inclusivity of individuals with disabilities entailing SDGs goals and targets. Additionally, there is the use of social media as a platform necessary for the discussion and information dissemination. For instance, text mining research on Twitter messages has led to the identification of key trends in the discussion of people with disabilities. Recent research has uncovered that the main topics that emerge from the exchange of messages from Twitter concerning the Mental Health Day ((TA3.02) Collecting disability data, 2017). Smartphone and online applications have the potential of being utilized in the crowdsourcing of information internationally concerning how the built environment of cities can be accessible to individuals with disabilities. For instance, there is the Accessibility Cloud which is a platform used in the compilation of details that have been crowdsourced by key accessibility smartphone and online applications. It also shows the availability of data concerning the many places that have been labeled as classified as per the accessibility of individuals with disabilities.

Issues Raised During the Recent International Day for Persons with Disabilities

Overview

The world population constitutes approximately 15% of the global population. These people are encounter higher risks and are disproportionately impacted by the various situations such as disasters and emergency. However, in the past, there has been a disregard of their unique knowledge and experience which would be critical in the building of an inclusive society. The transformation geared to the realization of sustainable and resilient society will have to look at the concerns and challenges. This can be achieved through collective efforts among all the stakeholders in the designing, developing and implementing solutions that are both affordable and sustainable (Reesing, 2017). The 2030 Agenda has the slogan "leaving no one behind," and it establishes on the resilience of persons in vulnerable situations and minimization of their exposure and vulnerability to the various shocks on the social, economic and environmental aspect and other disasters. Individuals with disabilities can be considered as being beneficiaries and agents of changes. This fact has been reinforced by the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in addition to other global devel...