Examining disability and Development in four African countries (Kenya, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zambia)

1. ESRC/DFID
Poverty Alleviation Research
Bridging the Gap
Examining Disability and Development in four African
Countries (Kenya, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Zambia)
Professor Nora Groce
Leonard Cheshire Disability and Inclusive Development Centre, UCL
Professor Andrew State
Makerere University

2. BACKGROUND
 DFID/ESRC Poverty Alleviation Scheme-funded research project.
 Builds on previous research – in particular the DFID-funded Cross-cutting
Disability Research Programme (CCDRP)
 Emergence of a ‘disability and development gap’ (Groce and Kett, 2013) -
when poverty is reduced and access to health care, education, and
employment increased, disabled people may fall behind
 Building on a growing body of evidence around multidimensional poverty
particularly as it applies to persons with disabilities
 (e.g Groce et al, 2011; Mitra et al, 2013: Palmer, 2011; Mizunoya and Mitra, 2013; Eide and
Ingstad, 2013; Munsaka and Charnley, 2013; McConkey, 2012.)
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3. PARTNERS
 Kenya: University of Nairobi, School of
Public Health, African Centre for
Science and Technology; United
Disabled Persons Kenya
 Uganda: Makerere University,
Department of Social Work and Social
Administration; National Union of
Disabled Persons of Uganda
 Zambia: Institute of Economic and
Social Research, University of Zambia;
Zambia Agency for Persons with
Disabilities
 Sierra Leone: University of Sierra
Leone, Department of Sociology and
Social Work; Sierra Leone Union of
People with Disabilities
 South Africa: Stellenbosch University

4. KEY QUESTIONS
1. How do current national policies, programmes and strategies in health, education, labour
market and social protection address poverty, inequality and access to services of disabled
adults and children in the four selected countries?
2.What implementation strategies are currently in place/ being developed to implement these
policies, programmes and strategies? What monitoring and evaluation strategies are currently
in place and how can they become more effective?
3. What information can currently be obtained through the analysis of secondary data to
compare disabled and non-disabled persons in censuses and national surveys in order to
better understand the links between disability, multidimensional poverty and barriers to
accessing initiatives to alleviate poverty?
3. What educational, economic, health and social protection interventions by state and non-
state actors make a difference to persons with disabilities to ensure they benefit equally
compared to their non-disabled peers and how can these be replicated?
4. How can the hypothesised disability and development gap be assessed to understand the
multidimensional poverty and barriers faced by persons with disabilities in comparison to non-
disabled persons?

5. PROJECT PHASING

6. RESEARCH PROGRESS TO DATE
 Policy Analysis in each country: What SHOULD Happen:
> First level analysis: review of disability-specific legislation and policy
> Second level analysis: review generic development policies and legislations intended
to reduce poverty (universal education, gender equity etc.) to assess disability
(‘e.g. Education Acts, labour laws, health and social welfare legislation,
 Secondary data analysis: What DOES Happen
> Partners are developing analytical frameworks to analyse existing
data to observe trends across the four domains,
> Working to identify variables that allow for disability status to be
looks at the disaggregation of the data over the four domains and
other aspects of multidimensional poverty measures included by disability
status.
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7. KEY OBJECTIVES: KIND OF IMPACT/MEANS TO ACHIEVING IMPACT/RESEARCH
DESIGN THAT FOSTERS IMPACT
FROM PERSPECTIVE OF LEONARD CHESHIRE DISABILITY AND INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT CENTRE:
• The production of new evidence leading to sustained awareness of, and interest in,
the project among key stakeholders – persons with disabilities and their families,
policymakers, governments, bilateral/ multilateral donors, DPOs, other researchers
• Policymakers in the four research domains are influenced by key aspects of the
research which ‘bridge the gap’ in their field and incorporate outcomes into poverty
alleviation policies
• A sustained, positive impact, changing attitudes of donors, policy-makers and
development practitioners on disability issues and persons with disabilities;
• South-South dialogue is facilitated and maintained between research partners and
other stakeholders, including DPOs for effective knowledge exchange to promote
inclusive disability policy and practice;
• Effective engagement with the media, at global, regional, national and local levels
to communicate key messages and policy implications from the research

8. INCLUDING DISABILITY INTO RESEARCH ON POVERTY ALLEVIATION
Perspective of disability inclusive research from a leading African
University:
1. Inclusion of disability into broader research on poverty
alleviation efforts
2. Disability as an area of distinct research
3. Inclusion of disability in curriculum in social sciences,
international development & etc.

9. Additional Thoughts/ discussion

10. Thank you!
Nora.groce@ucl.ac.uk
deanfss@chuss.mak.ac.ug
http://gap.leonardcheshire.org/