Policies

The United Nations began advocating for the inclusion of disability issues into development co-operation projects already during the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons (1982-91).

With the support of the Finnish Government and the involvement of people with disabilities and their organizations the United Nations developed concrete guidance and tools for inclusive development planning: "Disability Dimension in Development Action. Manual on Inclusive Planning" (PDF).

The manual contains

• policy frameworks
• general guidance for taking disability into account in the project cycle
• checklists such as the Rapid Handicap Assessment (RHA) for screening project documents.
  Click here for the RHA version 4 - a 10 point checklist for screening projects.

The Joint Position paper by three UN Specialized Agencies (ILO, UNESCO and WHO) characterize the new approach to Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) as a strategy to poverty reduction of people with disabilities.

CBR is also understood to be part of multi sectoral community development. (CBR: A Strategy for Rehabilitation, Equalization of Opportunities, Poverty Reduction and Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities. Joint Position Paper. 2004.) The WHO/DAR is working with partners to produce new, updated guidelines on CBR. Link to the publications through WHO/DAR homepage.

Other policies:

• UN Standard Rules
• UN Convention