Disability-inclusive budgeting requires governments to examine public revenue, expenditure, procurement, and fiscal policy. They must consider how these affect the inclusion and rights of persons with disabilities. Stakeholders often use terms such as inclusive budgeting, disability budgeting, and disability-responsive budgeting interchangeably. However, these terms do not necessarily provide the same guidance or establish the same standard for implementing the CRPD.
These approaches offer an entry point for stakeholders to engage with budget processes and public financial management (PFM). However, they might not provide comprehensive guidance to ensure the use of maximum available resources to implement the CRPD.
Inclusive budgeting is probably the broadest concept. It implies that government revenue generation and expenditures will contribute to inclusive development. This involves and benefits all people in their diversity. It should include persons with disabilities among others. It pays attention to how revenue generation and expenditures affect gender equality and the most marginalized groups. It should also ensure meaningful consultation with all stakeholders in budget processes. This approach is important as an overarching concept. However, alone it might miss the specific requirements of different groups, particularly the most marginalized among persons with disabilities.
Disability budgeting and disability responsive budgeting concepts echo gender-responsive and child responsive budgeting, with a focus on persons with disabilities. These concepts might be more inclusive of all groups but may not be specific enough. Indeed, governments might, in good faith, consider the following public expenditures disability responsive:
- Spending on important programs that do not actually promote inclusion of persons with disabilities per se. Examples include public health programs such as immunization and mine risk awareness.
- Spending on programs that contradict CRPD standards. Examples include segregated education or psychiatric hospitals practicing forced treatment and coercion.
- Spending focused on disability specific programs that fails to promote a whole of government approach.
What Does CRPD-Compliant Budgeting Actually Require?
CRPD compliant budgeting builds on the comprehensive standards of the CRPD to assess and plan public resource allocation. This covers all human rights of all persons with disabilities. The CRPD Committee has not yet developed specific guidance on the subject. However, the CRPD Standards and the Committee’s jurisprudence provide a basis for elaborating a few basic elements. These also draw on the experience of DPOs from Philippines, India and the Pacific in budget analysis and advocacy:
- The planning process and execution of public budgets strictly comply with provisions of the CRPD. They involve close consultation with representative organizations of persons with disabilities, including children. They also give specific attention to the most marginalized groups.
- The overall public finance management system contributes efficiently and effectively to CRPD implementation, using all available instruments (transfers, public procurement, grants, contracts, tax expenditures, revenue generation, etc.).
- All central and local public spending, as well as development assistance funds, foster accessibility and non-discrimination across sectors and contribute to the inclusion of persons with disabilities.
- All policies, guidelines or administrative regulations allowing for and related to public expenditures, are consistent with the CRPD, including public procurement regulations.
- Public resources, domestic and international, do not finance programs and services that contradict CRPD standards. Such programs undergo reforms towards compliance. Alternatively, resources shift from CRPD non-compliant to CRPD compliant policies, services, and programs. This may happen incrementally, but there should be a deadline. This also applies to services that receive public funding and/or regulation but that private entities deliver.
- Public resources are used to sustain and ensure universal access to effective national policies, programs, and services compliant with the CRPD; scale up effective local programs, services, and initiatives compliant with the CRPD; and allow for the development of new policies addressing gaps in required services for inclusion.
- Specific attention should be paid so that public spending supports gender equality and the inclusion of most marginalized groups among persons with disabilities.
- Maximum available resources, including domestic and international, are mobilized across sectors and government levels. Earmarking may be considered to ensure that all ministries and public agencies allocate resources to ensure non-discrimination and to progressively make their services accessible and inclusive to all persons with disabilities. Such earmarking should be supported by implementation plans and technical assistance.
- Public resources follow responsibilities devolved from central to local governments within the frame of fiscal decentralization to ensure that local authorities have the means to deliver the services and support which they are mandated.
- Revenue generation, including taxation, takes into consideration the extra costs faced by Persons with disabilities.
- The principle of non-retrogression is fully applied and prevents disproportionate and arbitrary cuts in resources allocated for the inclusion of Persons with disabilities. Austerity measures that have weakened standards of support across Europe since the 2008 financial crisis are an illustration of such negative policies.
- Budgeting processes and reports are transparent, with agreed-upon indicators for monitoring the progress of CPRD compliant budgeting, including not only budgetary allocation but actual expenditures as well.
- Persons with disabilities, including children with disabilities, through their representative organizations, should be closely consulted in planning and execution of budget at the national and local levels (Article 4.3).
The Center for Inclusive Policy (CIP) worked with the Pacific Disability Forum (Fiji), Equals-Centre for Promotion of Social Justice (India) and the Europe Foundation (Georgia) on initiatives for CRPD compliant budget advocacy.
For further guidance, please consult our discussion paper, developed with Polly Meeks, or our Budget Analysis Policy Brief, authored by Meenakshi Balasubramanian.
