Improving disabled people's access to and use of the domestic water cycle could assist in restoring the social integration and dignity of the individual disabled person. It would reduce the burden of personal care placed on family members and release valuable time, enabling disabled people and their families to apply more effort to improving income and reducing poverty. Specialist skills and knowledge are rarely required to accommodate disability. Instead consultations with local disability organisations, including women’s sections, would provide insight into needs and possible solutions.1. Good Practice Case Stories supported by Danida:Danida does not yet have much experience in terms of including accessibility for persons with disabilities planning for water and sanitation. There are initiatives, however, in Burkina Faso, where the programme document includes the construction of school latrines in collaboration with local disability organisations:
The development of the Technical Issue Note and the Good Practice Case Stories For the purpose of this web-site a good practice case story is understood as a concrete example of how disability has been addressed successfully in Danish development co-operation. The identification of good practice case stories on disability in development took a starting point in the summary of disability specific activities annexed to the review report on The Inclusion of Disability Aspects in Danish Development Co-operation from November 2004.
Good Practice Case Stories on disability in development are included in the Tool Box and Good Practices section of several networks at Danida Devforum.
Criteria and selection of cases were discussed with staff of Danida’s Technical Advisory Services and representatives from Danish disabled people’s organisations. Good practice case stories in this collection were chosen if they met at least two of the following criteria:
2. Links to Good Practice papers by other agencies and resource centresThe Water, Engineering and Development Centre at Loughborough University, UK, has researched and developed good practices for water and sanitation accommodating the needs of persons with disabilities for several years. 3. Danish policies on water and sanitation and disability There is no explicit mentioning of persons with disabilities in Danish policies on Water Resources Management (2000) or Water Supply and Sanitation (2000) but the policies are based on the basic goal of poverty alleviation and refer to marginalised groups’ particular problems in accessing services, including water and sanitation.4. International conventions and declarationsUniversal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948. Article 25 lists the right to safe water.
The United Nations Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, 1993 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 5. Other resourcesWhy should the water and sanitation sector consider disabled people?
Access to water and sanitation for disabled people
Washington group on disability statistics
Dutch Coalition on Disability and Development (DCDD)- Accessibility of built environment and other mobility technologiesUSAID Policy on Standards for Accessibility for the Disabled in USAID-financed Construction
World Bank site on Universal Design or Barrier Free Environments
Nothing About Us Without Us. Developing Innovative Technologies For, By and With Disabled Persons. David Werner’s idea book for low-resource settings.
