What is the purpose of the WG?

A UN International Seminar on Disability Measurement held in 2001 highlighted the need for standard principles and measures of disability in all national data collection systems and the improvement of cross-national comparability among disability measures.

To meet recommendations for consistency and transparency in disability measurement cross-nationally, the WG was constituted under the auspices of the UN Statistical Commission as a City Group. Specifically the WG was tasked to:

• address the need for reliable and comparable population-based measures of disability,
• foster international cooperation in the area of health and disability statistics,
• produce internationally tested measures to monitor status of persons with disability, and
• incorporate disability into national statistical systems.