Salience of Disability Rights on the Global Agenda

Originally conceived as a vague human rights concern pertinent to employment issues and affecting a minority of the population, disability is now mentioned in myriad agendas and officially defined as the "outcome of the interaction between a person with an impairment and the environmental and attitudinal barriers he/she may face." Moreover, agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) state "every human being can experience a decrement in health and thereby experience some degree of disability". Together, these changes have increased the salience of disability rights on the global agenda, though not to the level of such high-salience issues as HIV/AIDS, universal education, or environmental sustainability.

Prior to 1975, disability rights were a low-salience, barely global issue characterized by weak and inactive language. In 1953, the ninth session of the UN Social Commission merely

"expressed interest in programmes designed for the promotion of services for persons with disabilities which stress their independent and productive role in society."

Since 1975, the story of disability rights as a global issue has been one of momentum and inertia. With the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons, disability rights gained an identity as an independent issue of global importance. The Declaration states all disabled persons

shall enjoy all the rights set forth in this Declaration...the inherent right to respect for their human dignity...the same civil and political rights as other human beings...the right to medical, psychological and functional treatment...

and more. Furthermore, at its twenty-fourth session the Commission for Social Development recommended the elimination of physical and architectural barriers that prevent the full social integration of persons with disabilities. Not long after, 1981 was established as the International Year for Disabled Persons and 1983-1992 the International Decade of Disabled Persons.

Around this time, Disabled Peoples' International (DPI), the foremost of disability rights NGO's, was also founded. Constructed as a coalition of national assemblies organized by region, DPI affects disability rights agendas worldwide. The Seoul Declaration was released last year in support of the UN's Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Optional Protocol, demonstrating DPI is a visible force impacting the permanence and evolution of disability rights on the global agenda.

Paramount in the evolution of disability rights as a salient global issue were the participation of NGO's such as DPI and the increasing adoption of disability rights in multiple agendas. As evidence of this, DPI's website contains links to over two dozen topic areas including international development, health, and job opportunities. These, in turn, are reflected by such international organizations as the World Bank (development), the WHO (health), and the International Labour Organization (job opportunities).

Despite the apparently strong connections between NGO's and eminent international organizations, disability rights lack the salience of such global issues as HIV/AIDS, universal education, and environmental sustainability, all of which are mentioned in the United Nation's Millenium Development Goals. That is not to say disability rights are not found in these high-salience agendas. Disabled persons suffer higher rates of sexual abuse and are more likely to engage in harmful sexual practices, both of which contribute to higher rates of HIV/AIDS. Education is often withheld from those with disabilities, so programs addressing universal education must necessarily address the issue of educating disabled persons. Finally, lack of development and poverty often lead to or exacerbate conditions of disability, making any program in environmental sustainability and development pertinent to those living with disabilities.

Unfortunately, the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC) is a less salient global issue than disability rights. Perhaps the fairly strong coupling of disability rights to universal education and sustainable development is one reason for its increased salience when compared to the protection of civilians in armed conflict. Also possible is the longevity of disability rights on the UN's agenda. Disability has been specifically mentioned since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, albeit in passing.

Whatever the reasons for the disparate salience of disability rights and protection of victims in armed conflict, CIVIC can surely benefit from the history of disability rights by identifying a precedent or precedents within the UN agenda, effectively connecting their issue with high-salience issues, constructing a global network with regional specificity, and pressing for ever more inclusive definitions of innocent victims in armed conflict. Indeed, they have already taken steps in these directions.