1. Disability and Poverty: Uncovering the Empirical Dynamics HD Learning Week November 10, 2003

2. Why are we here? Gain a better understanding of what is meant by “disability” Explore the relationship between poverty and disability Learn about the challenges of doing empirical work on disability

3. Today’s Program Introduction General overview –Epidemiology –Relation to poverty –Potential utility of LSMS Case studies –Mental health in Bosnia –Household survey in Indonesia –Poverty Mapping in Uganda

4. Who are disabled people? The United Nations census recommendations state a person with disability is defined as A person who is limited in the kind or amount of activities that he or she can do because of ongoing difficulties due to a long-term physical condition, mental condition, or health problem (United Nations, 1998) There are 400 million disabled people in developing countries

5. What causes disability? Malnutrition Poor maternal health Child birth Vehicular crashes Work injuries Conflict Illness – e.g., TB, polio, measles, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, etc.

6. World Bank and disability – What is the link? Successful implementation of the MDG’s results in the prevention of disability and increased productivity for disabled people Two-way causality between disability and poverty Disabled people are disproportionately poor, and poor people are disproportionately disabled Doing a good job on poverty alleviation requires taking disabled people into account

7. Disability and Poverty – Research Concerns The definition of disability is complex Different definitions and different data collection methodologies yield different rates Data on disability often not collected, or at least not given proper attention

8. Prevalence of Disability in Selected Countries Percent of Population Disabled Bangladesh0.8 Niger1.3 Egypt4.4 Italy5.0 Germany8.4 United States15.0 Australia18.0

9. International Efforts to Obtain Comparable Data UNSD study on disability data collection DISTAT-II Washington City Group on Disability Measurement

10. Needed: Empirical Work on Disability Data on prevalence Relation to poverty, income, health, and education Understanding of the dynamics between disability and poverty