Resources
The Washington Group has assembled an array of resources on disability. These provide background and guidance about the WG, the definition and measurement of disability, and how disability is manifested in the international agenda, particularly within the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability and the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development.
WG Implementation Document #10 - SDG
The overriding principle of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), officially known as Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is global eradication of disadvantage through the improvement of situations for all peoples. To ensure that “no one is left behind”, the chapeau of the SDGs notes the importance of disaggregating data by characteristics associated with exclusion and vulnerability, including disability. The SDGs contain 17 Goals, with 169 targets, including specific indicators related to disability. As the WHO/World Bank World Report on Disability and much subsequent research has shown, people with disabilities disproportionately live in poverty and are excluded from social and economic activities. Without disaggregation by disability status, it is not possible to monitor the progress and outcomes of the implementation of the 2030 agenda activities in a way that documents if people with disabilities are indeed being left behind or not.
Disability Disaggregation: Envisioning Inclusive Development
Inclusion is the guiding principle of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which includes the pledge to leave no one behind and to create a “just, equitable, tolerant, open and socially inclusive world in which the needs of the most vulnerable are met”. The commitment to inclusion specifically addresses persons with disabilities and is consistent with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Adopted in 2016, the CRPD affirms equal rights for all people, regardless of their disability status, and puts forth a development agenda for ensuring full inclusion in all aspects of society.
An Introduction to the WG Questions Sets
In 2001, the International Seminar on the Measurement of Disability1 was held in New York. During this meeting participants agreed that existing data on disability, especially in low- and middle-income countries, were scarce and often of poor quality. The participants further recognized there was need for common definitions, concepts, standards and methodologies in statistics about persons with disability, as well as a need for internationally comparable, high- quality disability data collection. The Seminar recommended the development of standard indicators using population-based measures of disability for country use and for international comparisons.