We have a right to be angry
Dear Debriefers,
Today's edition curates news from nearly 50 countries.
We start in France on the 20th anniversary of their disability law, and Ukraine on the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion.
Then we go to the US mess and how disabled people are caught in the multiple areas Trump and Musk are breaking things, with updates domestically and internationally.
Leaving the US as fast as I can, I welcome some governance changes at the International Disability Alliance, and see some wins for disability rights in Tanzania and Japan.
All this and more - enjoy the world tour!
Explore the full guide with over 170 links: curated across 48 countries or according to subject. This edition picks up from the update in January.
Disability Debrief is published on a pay-what-you-can basis. Thanks to ADD International, Christopher, Federico and Lucy for new contributions.
“We have a right to be angry”
In France, the disability law of 2005 had its twentieth anniversary. As is the story worldwide, legislation supposed to guarantee equal rights and opportunities for people with disabilities has faced challenges in implementation. Even as the law brought a new approach to disability, timelines for accessibility continue to be postponed and targets for employment not met.
Disability associations protesting in Paris on the eve of the anniversary chanted “2005, 2025, rien n’a changé”, nothing has changed. Chiara, a member of the feminist collective Les Dévalideuses said that:
“We are people equal to able-bodied people and we also have the right to be angry.” (Translation)
Some of protestors' anger was directed at the large associations “managing” disability services and accused of locking down public debate on the subject. (See previously)
The photograph of protestors above is from a small protest arranged in Lyon, arranged by trade unions and disability associations and critiquing the “very partial” implementation of the law. See further pictures by Matthieu Delaty.
Uniqueness of Ukraine's defence
A grimmer anniversary this week was the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
A profile from European Disability Forum on the impact of the war estimates that 300,000 people have acquired a disability due to war-related injuries.
Reports show challenges are more profound for people with intellectual disabilities and their families as well as for Roma with disabilities, with both groups facing further segregation or marginalisation due to the conflict.
But part of the response to the war is trying to make Ukraine a more inclusive society. Businesses are trying to tackle labour shortages by integrated disabled people into the workforce. And, according to the First Lady, Olena Zelenska, describing efforts for accessibility:
“The uniqueness of Ukraine’s defense lies in the fact that we strive to develop even now, without postponing it for ‘after the war.’”
Uniqueness of US offence
Trump's presidency has opened with shock-and-awe on several fronts that will directly impact disabled people. These are seismic shifts at the heart of the most powerful nation on earth.
There are simultaneous assaults on the federal government as a whole, Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and breaking taboos in public discourse and hate-speech.
In changes at the federal level, attacks on the Department of Education will affect services and protections for disabled children. And cuts to Medicaid would leave millions without healthcare and put millions of those receiving community-based services at risk of institutionalisation. Indeed, a group of 17 states are suing to get rid of Section 504, a historic protection preventing discrimination on disability for those receiving government funding.
As for the DEI rollbacks, they also often explicitly include a rejection of DEIA, with the A for Accessibility. According to a summary by the American Association of People with Disabilities:
“This will most significantly affect disabled people, especially disabled people of color and disabled LGBT people, who work for the federal government or federal contractors or work in federally funded initiatives that focus on equity. This is important because the federal government is the largest employer of people with disabilities.”
Breaking taboos. The President is using his bully pulpit to attack protections for disabled people, blame recruitment of disabled people for plane crashes, and continue his long-standing disdain of disabled people. Meanwhile his collaborator Elon Musk keeps tweeting the R-word and started an online pile-on targetting a blind government official.
The tides are turning. Disability:IN's already-questionable “Disability Equality Index” seems to be renamed to “Disability Index”. And airlines have been quick to challenge protections of disabled passengers set under the Biden administration. And it's definitely not limited to the US: Australia's opposition leader has joined attacks on DEI.
But these changes are still in play. Even while some of this damage will be hard to undo, many of Trump's actions are being challenged in the courts. A judge has blocked some of the attacks on DEI and government lawyers from 16 states are clarifying that DEIA activities “are not illegal”. For now?
Less aid, more armies
Further details are becoming clear in the devastating impact of the freeze of US foreign aid on disabled people, which I reported earlier this month.
In Nigeria there is a portrait of how efforts to get children with disabilities into school have stopped. In Bangladesh, Humanity and Inclusion shares the stories of the disabled people their activities were supporting. In Nepal, grassroots disabled-led organisations are suddenly without funding.
At the European level it is estimated 5 million USD of funding had been going to disability organisations, and European Disability Forum calls for the European Union to make up that gap.
Reacting to the new US foreign policy, here in the UK our government has declared a serious cut in overseas aid to increase the defence budget. And in Netherlands, the government is making good on previous promises to slash aid, and put Dutch interests first.
The need for decisive leadership
All these changes mean there is an ever more urgent need for leadership and new coalition building at every level of the disability movement.
The upcoming Global Disability Summit (GDS) in Germany is coming at a pivotal moment – and I hope to see some of you there. While preparations for the Summit continue some of the fault-lines are being revealed as a side-event on Palestine was rejected by the organisers.
But there is also good news from International Disability Alliance (IDA), the leading body representing disabled people on the world stage. Following last year's crisis of leadership and financial mismanagement, they have adopted reforms to their constitution and will hold leadership elections in the next months.
These structural changes at IDA include a separation in roles for representation and governance, and they are in the key areas identified by the Debrief's exclusive coverage of this last year. A lot now depends on how IDA and its coalition steps up to meet the moment.
Landmark judgement
“Landmark judgement”. There is a big win for the rights of persons with albinism in a “landmark judgement” from the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. It obliges the Tanzanian government to establish a compensation fund, make legal reform and remedy its failure to protect persons with albinism from discrimination and violence.
Compensation. In Japan, a law takes effect to compensate victims of forced sterilization. The majority of cases are from the 1950s, with an estimated 8,400 of its victims still alive today.
Rethinking disability benefits
Friends at Center for Inclusive Policy have a helpful new policy brief on rethinking social protection policy for disabled people, accompanied by an animation.
However some countries are rethinking in the wrong direction. In Australia and New Zealand disability supports are being devalued and in Argentina reforms to disability benefits are regressive from a rights view.
Further news
No-one left out of school. A new guide from Inclusion International to support families of children with intellectual disabilities to advocate for inclusive education.
Unreasonable accommodation. In Canada, research shows women with disabilities are less likely than men to get the workplace adjustments they request.
Quarantined enforcement. The judiciary in China has helped to challenge discrimination towards disabled people in the workplace. But a “quarantined enforcement” means this is less likely to touch government agencies and the employment of disabled people in the public sector.
“Unshrinking my body” a deeply personal illustrated essay by Sonaksha, who also illustrates for the Debrief.
Join up. For those of us wondering where we'll go after the collapse of DEI and aid, the Indonesian military has a plan to open opportunities for people with disabilities.
“Good trouble for a good cause”
In Disability Debrief news...
Good trouble for a good cause. I am happy to welcome new support from ADD International, a British charity supporting disability justice globally.
Fredrick Ouko, their Co-Chief Executive Officer, celebrates the Debrief as making “good trouble for the good cause of disability justice.”
Over 15 years ago in Bangladesh I was welcomed into the disability movement by a grassroots disability-led organisation, initially created by ADD. So this support is particularly meaningful to me, in closing that circle.
Catch-up on what you missed. This last month saw:
- Stop work, reporting on the US aid freeze, already one of the most viewed Debrief pieces. For a podcast version, I spoke about it on Pushing Limits.
- A one-sided deal, unique insights on inclusive education from Nyuki Msimulizi in Tanzania.
- Forgotten, a heart-rending piece on isolation and illness by Rachel Litchman.
Using press photographs: I'm trying out press agency photographs for editions that previously wouldn't have had art. This comes with the complication of the ways disabled people are represented and the kind of photographs available. But as with everything on the Debrief, I'll use them continue to sharpen the disability lens we put on world news. Let me know what you think.
Beat the system
I wrote this edition listening to Sean Forbes' track “I kinda beat the system”. Here's hoping we do too,
Peter
Outro
Further reading. All the links from these curated editions go into the Debrief library, which organises 5,900+ links across over 160 countries. See below for contents from this month's update.
Let your friends know. Sharing the newsletter is how people find it!
Connect. Get in touch, and find Disability Debrief on Linkedin.
Help us do more. Make a one-off or recurring financial contribution to the Debrief.
Recent News
This update has 174 curated links from 48 countries and regions, organized across 42 subjects.
You can explore it organized by subject or by country.
Subjects
- Accessibility and Design
- Ageing
- Assistive Technology
- COVID-19
- Civil Society and Community
- Climate Crisis and Environment
- Communication and Language
- Conflict and Peace
- Culture, Entertainment and Media
- Data and Research
- Digital Accessibility and Technology
- Disaster Risk Reduction and Crisis Response
- Economics and Social Protection
- Education and Childhood
- Employment, Business and Work
- Gender Equality and Women with Disabilities
- Health
- History and Memorial
- Humanitarian, Migrants and Refugees
- Independent Living and Deinstitutionalization
- International Cooperation
- Justice Systems and Legal Capacity
- Lived Experience and Opinion
- Mental Health
- Mobility, Travel, Transport and Tourism
- Policy and Rights
- Politics and Elections
- Relationships, Sex and Reproductive Rights
- Space Exploration
- Sport and Paralympics
- War in Ukraine
Countries
Acknowledgements
Photograph of protestors in Lyon by Matthieu Delaty/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images.
Thanks to Celestine Fraser for helping me think through use of photographs.
And many thanks to the readers and organisations whose support makes this work possible, and to everyone who shares links, news and reports with me.