Not just for the ‘lucky few’

Empowering people with disability and ensuring inclusiveness and equality

Reflections from Water for Women Gender and Social Inclusion (GSI) Specialist, Jose Mott

A few months ago, I read an article that resonated with me and one that I feel is particularly relevant for International Day of People with Disabilities (IDPD). It was written by a woman with a disability – let’s call her Martha. Her type of disability is not relevant to this story, as you will see.

Martha explained the many forms of discrimination she experienced in her lifetime. She remembered the looks from people when she walked down the street, the sneering comments she would get, the jokes and the laughter, the assumptions made about her…

She stopped being surprised long ago about people she didn’t know coming up to her and making negative comments about her disability, or worse, making “sympathetic” comments like ‘It must be so hard for you having that disability…’.

She tried to get used to being treated differently at school, how teachers seemed to have different expectations of her, how they seemed to keep their distance from her, even when she already felt so alone and isolated from the other students.

In her adulthood, Martha eventually grew tired of these responses to her disability, and how it made her feel. One day walking down the street, after yet another look from a group of people passing by (and then snickering to each other after they had passed her), she experienced what she described as one of those “aha” moments.

‘Why should I be made to feel like this? This is not my problem. This is other people’s problem, their cruelty and ignorance are not my fault. In fact, I should feel sorry for them, how they can go through life with such negative judgements on people?’

For many of the one billion people with disability living in the world today, overcoming the pain associated with the stigma, judgements and assumptions made about them is a difficult journey and can be overwhelming. Martha had strong support from her family and friends, but sadly, many people with a disability around the world cannot even count on that.

The stigma and judgement faced by people with a disability is an issue we are all responsible for, and all too often, this burden lies heavily on the shoulders of people with disability and seriously affects their opportunities in life and their wellbeing.

In celebrating IDPD, we should be reminded that we all have a responsibility to change our attitudes; to be more inclusive and open to difference, so that people with disability can fully grasp opportunities to fulfil their potential.

This day gives us an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the important contributions that people with disability make towards society, often in very difficult circumstances.

For the WASH sector in particular, celebrating International Day of People with Disabilities is important, as it recognises the critical link that exists between the active involvement of people with a disability and better WASH services for all (SDG 6).

The 19 WASH projects that are being implemented in 16 different countries in the Asia Pacific region by 10 civil society organisations (CSOs), through the Australian Government’s flagship WASH program, the Water for Women Fund, have a focus on working towards reducing the barriers that perpetuate stigma and low expectations towards people with disability and other marginalised groups. Through these efforts, people with disability will feel more empowered to have a voice and make decisions about what affects them in their daily lives.

Access to sustainable, safely managed and accessible WASH facilities and services is critical for the health, wellbeing and dignity of everyone in the community. Yet too often, people with disability are excluded from these processes, which affects their capacity to access WASH facilities, thereby compromising their rights, dignity and health. Improved WASH facilities that meet their needs can be a significant step towards transforming the lives of people with disability.

There are many challenges in changing attitudes at both an institutional and community level and our CSO partners are working towards addressing these challenges in their projects. Developing strong relationships with local disability organisations, which support the empowerment of people with a disability is key to making this happen.  

Only by changing our attitudes and expectations, and actively supporting people like Martha to be involved in making and shaping decisions that affect them, can we break down the barriers of exclusion and work towards empowering people with disability to achieve their full potential. To this end, one of the principles of our strategy for gender and social inclusion is to ‘put the right people at the centre’ of all our Fund processes. In doing this, we can really be sure that safe and accessible water and sanitation in homes, schools and institutions becomes a reality for all in the community, not just for the ‘lucky few’.

Photo: Ernesto, who has a visual impairment, accessing clean water as a results of WaterAid and RHTO's work together. (WaterAid/Jafet Potenzo Lopes)