Disability

By Luciana Grosu Being old in Romania often equals being poor. Romania’s population is younger compared to other EU countries, nevertheless, it is aging rapidly. There are indeed elderly people who die of hunger, alone in their homes. We often hear about such cases, but there’s not much we can do about it”, admits Lisei Maria.

Despite its rating as least-developed country (LDC) where 56.5 per cent of the population are estimated by the World Bank (WB) to earn less than $2 a day (adjusted for purchasing power parity), Cambodia is consistently, albeit incrementally, improving its enrolment and literacy rates and successfully reducing poverty (from 34.7 per cent in 2004 to 30.1 per cent in 2007, WB). However, marginalized, physically impaired people are still severely affected by income inequality and exclusion.

By Olufunmilayo Akande The 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was aimed at promoting, protecting and ensuring the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities. However, despite the commitments made, disability remains largely invisible in most mainstream development agenda and processes both at global and local levels.

By Yvonne Zimba As in the rest of southern Africa, people with disabilities in Zambia are among the worst affected by negative socio-economic conditions and face stigmatization and social exclusion. This article focuses on welfare of people with disabilities in two countries, one developed and one developing: Finland and Zambia.