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This case study builds a picture of the current state of inclusion and accessibility in the built environment and infrastructure in Solo, Indonesia, through engaging local stakeholders and communities and exploring the understanding of and potential for inclusive design to address some of the current barriers to inclusion.

Surakarta (known as Solo) is a city in Central Java, Indonesia, with a population of 557,606 people. The city has a strong history of inclusion, recognised as a great place for persons with disabilities in Indonesia to live. Solo city is a leader for inclusion in Indonesia, demonstrated through city regulations on disability inclusion that pre-date the ratification of the UNCRPD. There is great progress in implementing inclusive environments in Solo with numerous accessible infrastructures, but the city would benefit from a more holistic approach, support by a robust inclusive design strategy that integrates inclusion, sustainable and resilience to ensure long-term progress. One of the aspects that makes Solo unique is its strong community relationships, community-led approaches and leadership from the community is active and valued. This is also supported within urban governance, facilitating opportunities from grassroots leadership and inclusive participation for persons with disabilities.

The research identified that to create more inclusive environments, the physical infrastructure, planning and design is crucial, but equally important are the processes of inclusion and participation. Creating robust mechanisms of community participation and leadership is fundamental to ensure long term sustainable and continued progress to being a more inclusive city.

Across Indonesia, action towards inclusive cities is supported through the work of the Inclusive Mayor’s Network in Indonesia demonstrating country-wide leadership. The findings of this case study will serve Solo as a city but also have relevance for other cities across Indonesia and support the implementation of best practices found in Solo. 

This is the third of six case studies of the Inclusive Infrastructure programme analysing the state of accessibility and inclusive design in low-resource contexts around the world. 

IDA, UNICEF, and the Atlas Alliance, represented by Youth Mental Health Norway, co-hosted a Youth Summit on 14 February 2022 to ensure the inclusion of youth in the Global Disability Summit. 

All planning and decision making around the Summit were led by youth with disabilities, including through the design of a novel format to ensure the participation of youth from around the globe, from local to global.

The Summit showcased the innovations of organizations led by youth with disabilities. Youth with disabilities at the local, regional and global levels have created groups and activities, both online and offline, fostering a sense of community, even during the COVID-19 period. Through the Summit, the youth focused on topics that they have identified to be particularly important in this regard, such as participation of youth in OPDs and youth mainstream organizations, inclusive education, deinstitutionalization and community inclusion, access to employment, climate change, new technologies, humanitarian action, access to inclusive healthcare including sexual reproductive health and mental health, among others.

A working group consisting of co-hosts and selected partners was responsible for developing a Youth Charter for Change - summing up and challenging the commitments

In low-income settings, the informal economy is a practical alternative to work and employment for persons with disabilities. However, the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected the informal economy. This study aimed to explore the experiences of women with psychosocial disabilities in Kenya during the pandemic. We found that the pandemic worsened their experiences of work and employment, and they did not receive any social welfare or support from the government. Our findings suggest that pandemic management must adopt inclusive and context-sensitive approaches that support persons with psychosocial disabilities. Social welfare and protection for persons with disabilities are relevant for socio-economic empowerment and inclusion.

Journal of International Development, volume 34, issue 5

https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3638

The Resource Guide and Toolkit has been developed to help both organizations and individual practitioners and experts to address intersectionality in policies and in programmes. It may be used by individuals or teams to assess their own knowledge, attitudes, and practice, at a programme level as a supplement to existing design, adaptation, and assessment processes or at policy level to better understand and address the different and intersecting effects of policy on marginalised persons.

This Resource Guide and Toolkit emerged from an identified need to use an intersectional approach that included people with disabilities in all their diversity in the development, implementation and evaluation of policies, programmes, advocacy and inter-governmental processes. However, the authors and collaborators realised that an effective intersectionality resource needed to go beyond a focus on specific intersecting identities, such as disability and gender, as this would still exclude those who are most marginalised

This is the first study that comprehensively analyses the challenges, opportunities, and successes in delivering the United Nations children and armed conflict mandate since its inception in 1996. The study presents a short evolution of a unique United Nations instrument that was initially mandated by the General Assembly and subsequently enhanced through 13 Security Council resolutions. Understanding the way in which the mandate grew and how it has been implemented over the years will hopefully assist Member States and the public at large to renew their commitment to the protection of children in armed conflict and the prevention of grave violations. This study explores three time periods in the delivery of the mandate. Moreover, the study explores, among other issues, the background on the establishment of the mandate, its evolution over the past 25 years and the reflections generated by this experience, including through an analysis of the trends of grave violations against children, the modalities in monitoring and reporting and in pursuing engagement with listed and non-listed parties, the efforts made in prevention and the importance of partnerships. When possible, the study also brings to life the experiences of child survivors and child protection experts on the ground, who, after all, are the backbone of the mandate. Lastly, the study attempts to highlight some collective recommendations in the form of a way forward to illuminate the next 25 years in the pursuit of better protection of children in situations of armed conflict worldwide

Disability and poverty are inextricably linked, with lifelong consequences for persons with disabilities and their families. Investing in a disability-inclusive social protection system, therefore, is critical for addressing the diverse risks, inequalities, disability-related costs and barriers that limit the participation of persons with disabilities in their communities.

This analysis provides an in-depth assessment of the progress that the national government of Kenya has made to establish disability-inclusive social protection programmes. It reviews the policy/legal framework and the institutional arrangements for social protection in Kenya. It also reviews public investments in disability-specific and mainstream social protection programmes based on a budget tracking exercise covering five financial years (FY) between 2017/18 and 2021/22.

This report looks at the landscape of data on disability in Uganda – summarising what data on persons with disabilities is available, who produces and uses it, and how – as well as what this means for the economic inclusion of persons with disabilities.

For persons with disabilities to benefit from and contribute to society and the economy there needs to be effective policies, programmes and services that support their inclusion, particularly in employment. Reliable information and data on persons with disabilities, known as ‘disability data’, is essential to planning and for decision-making. When it is of high quality, accessible and used effectively, disability data can help organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs), civil society, government and businesses better understand and prioritise interventions that are vital for supporting persons with disabilities and ensuring their inclusion.

OPDs, civil society and the government have an important role to play in strengthening the landscape of disability data. Developed as part of Development Initiatives’ work on data to support disability inclusion, in consultation with Uganda’s disability rights movement, this report presents an analysis of Uganda’s landscape of disability data. It highlights important data sources, challenges and recommendations, providing a valuable evidence base to inform efforts aimed at strengthening the enabling environment for disability inclusion.

This article explores COVID-19 related experiences of disabled people in Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria, Nepal and Uganda. Narrative interviews generated storied responses, focussing on respondents' priorities, which enabled us to hear what was most significant for them and their families. 143 interviews were conducted online or by phone by 7 local researchers (3 disabled), with appropriate inclusive support. Nearly everyone was interviewed twice to capture the progression of impacts over time. The data was analysed thematically through a virtual participatory approach. An overarching 'subjective' theme of feelings experienced by the participants was labelled 'destabilisation, disorientation and uncertainty'. We also identified 'concrete' or material impacts. People experienced various dilemmas such as choosing between securing food and keeping safe, and tensions between receiving support and feeling increased vulnerability or dependence, with interplay between the emotions of fear, loss and hope. We found both the concept of liminality and grief models productive in understanding the progression of participants' experiences. Disabled people reported the same feelings, difficulties and impacts as others, reported in other literature, but often their pre-existing disadvantages have been exacerbated by the pandemic, including poverty, gender and impairment related stresses and discrimination, inaccessible services or relief, and exclusion from government initiatives.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequalities and barriers to social inclusion for people with disabilities. These experiences of social exclusion have been feltto an even greater extent by women with disabilities and under-represented groups of people with disabilities, leading to a range of effects on the operations and priorities of OPDs. To address a critical gap in the evidence base, the Disability Inclusion Helpdesk carried out a rapid assessment of the role of OPDs during the pandemic, and how the pandemic has affected OPDs’ operations and priorities.