About the Discussion Paper
This disability budget analysis global survey, conducted by Polly Meeks and Alexandre Cote for CIP, gathered responses from 38 civil society organisations across 23 countries to assess how well government budgets match their commitments under the CRPD. The findings, triangulated with detailed case studies from India, the Philippines, and the Pacific, point to one recurring theme: persons with disabilities remain politically marginalised in budget decisions worldwide. Published in July 2018.
“Disability is always an afterthought.” That line, from a Sub-Saharan African disability organisation, gives this disability budget analysis global survey its title, and sums up its central finding. Conducted by Polly Meeks and Alexandre Cote for the Center for Inclusive Policy (CIP), the survey gathered responses from 38 civil society organisations across 23 countries to see how government budgets stack up against commitments under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
What Did the Survey Find?
Of the 38 respondents, 28 said they’d been told directly by their government that a disability rights demand couldn’t be met due to a lack of resources, often while the same government was funding other priorities without hesitation. Twelve years after the CRPD’s adoption, resource allocations were still lagging well behind both policy commitments and treaty obligations.
“Disability Is Always an Afterthought”: Why Inclusion Requires Public Resources
Inadequate Resources for Inclusive Education
One respondent’s government had legally committed to allocating 10% of the education budget to special needs education. Actual 2017-18 spending came to just 0.2%.
Missing Funding for Sign Language Interpretation
One respondent’s government had legally committed to allocating 10% of the education budget to special needs education. Actual 2017-18 spending came to just 0.2%.
How Does International Finance Play a Role?
The paper widens the lens beyond domestic budgets: tax avoidance, foreign debt, and donor conditionality all shape how much money is available for disability inclusion in the first place. It estimated global corporate tax avoidance costs governments roughly $500 billion a year, revenue that could otherwise fund rights commitments. It also flagged a newly agreed OECD disability marker, then voluntary, as a promising but untested tool for tracking whether aid actually reaches persons with disabilities.
Are OPDs Ready to Engage in Budget Advocacy?
Very much so: 27 of 39 respondent organisations had already done some budget analysis or advocacy, and 35 planned to continue. But real barriers stood in their way, limited access to budget information, chronic underfunding of their own advocacy work, and a lack of technical capacity to interpret complex budget documents once they got hold of them.
What Does CIP Recommend?
The paper’s proposals are split by audience. Governments should stop funding programs that contradict the CRPD, integrate disability throughout the entire budget cycle, and conduct disability-responsive human rights impact assessments on every ministry’s budget. Donor countries should ensure all aid is disability-inclusive and report on this using the OECD’s new marker. Allies and non-government actors should prioritise funding OPDs directly to build their capacity for this work.
