csp day 2 - afternoon session on economic crisis

3pm. Here we are at the “informal Session on Emerging Issue: The global economic crisis, poverty and the implementation of the Convention” The Co-Chair is again H. E. Amb. Jim McLay (New Zealand). He says that two strands: pwd are over-represented among the very poor, and they are disproportionally affected by the economic crisis: what can we do about it? MDG on poverty will not be achieved without a focus on people with disabilities. What are we going to do about this, and what can we do?

The first speaker is Mr. Khandaker Jahurul Alam (Bangladesh). He points out that pwd are affected by climate change, economic crisis, growing prices. This causes increased isolation and discrimination, and a risk that pwd become scapegoat. Many development projects have been cut also because exchange rates of USD and EUR. He says that pwd need to take a proactive role to ensure funds are not cut. Nora Groce, an academic from London, talked about disability and development: pwd will feel the impact of the economic crisis first, they will feel it deeper, and they will feel it longer. Pwd are in informal employment sectors or work at home and are not paid – these are invisible elements of quantifying the economic situation. Also where they are paid, the pay is handed over to someone else who determines where the money goes.

Cveto Uršič (Slovenia) is a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities talked how the economic crisis has affected European countries. He mentioned the ComRPD’s first declaration in which they invited States to double their efforts in this area. Aleksandra Posarac (World Bank) spoke about 3 crises: food crisis, fuel crisis and the financial crisis. For pwd, business shut down and people lost jobs (also in self-employment and in the informal sector), and they experienced a decrease in their incomes. Budgets are being cut, and this includes services for pwd and their families.

After refreshingly short interventions by the panel, the co-chair opens the panel to the floor. The delegate from Cuba asks what is being done to find long-term solutions. The Italian delegate delivers a lecture on economics. The delegate from Swaziland asks the World Bank delegate what the interest rates are and makes a point about the way countries are categorized and the World Bank delegate jumps in and says that the “rapid social response” fund is a grant not a loan, and in terms of ranking there is a complex system of measurement. There are more interventions from delegates but nothing worth noting.

Stefan Trommel from the International Disability Alliance says that he’d like to focus on what we can do: there’s a lack of visibility of pwd in all of the discussions; communicate clearly to the MDG people that we insist disability gets onto the agenda and at the 2010 meeting; conference of states parties should send a clear a message to the 3rd and 2nd committees of the general assembly. At last, someone requesting concrete action. This has been missing thus far.

End of session. The co-chair sums up the session with 3 key messages to take action: ensure employment which is high quality and is dignified; work on a culture which drives attitudes; bolster efforts on education of kids with disabilities.

I personally found this session should have focused much more on actions which states could take. Delegates could have asked the Secretariat to take up some of the suggestions of engaging with the MDG agenda and insisting that disability is included adequately. With no action seeming to have been agreed upon it's likely that we will be here next year complaining about the same things. That's it for today: more blogs tomorrow!