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Promising Practices in Mainstreaming Disability in Development:

Case FinlandRonald Wiman

Government Disability Policy Programme & A Plan of Action

• The Government Report on Disability Policy (2007) and the CRPD are guiding the work on the national plan of action on disability, “Government Disability Policy Programme” (2010) and its implementation

• It assigns responsibilities for disability policy to all sectors/ministries to ensure the materialization of the rights of PWD in their mandated areas of action (sector responsibility) – including Ministry for Foreign Affairs:

• General policy on external relations• Development cooperation policy

Disability - Specific development cooperation (ODA) Activities

• Of the bilateral Finnish Official Development Assistance (ODA) 2.5.% goes for disability-specific activities

• Channeled mainly through NGOs/DPOs (75%)

• Disability projects by NGOs/DPOs require only 7.5% own funding (others 15%)

• Goverment Audit Unit evaluation (2007): Disability-specific activities are not ”mainstreaming”

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Finnish ”3-track” Disability and Development Strategy (2008)

Disability, is one of the cross-cutting issues/objectives(Gender and social equality, rights of vulnerable groups, HIV/AIDS)

that must be integrated in all development action through the following steps that complement each other:

1. Mainstream disability in all sectors and accommodate people with disabilities on the basis of the Human Rights Based Approach

and

2. Complement universal provisions with targeted, additional support and services to equalize access and opportunities for people with disabilities – and to empower them

and

3. Include disability in policy dialogue, country negotiations and multilateral cooperation and information dissemination

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Good practices in implementation

(1) Disability Coordination Group at the Min. for Foreign Affairs, Human Rights Unit

– Min. for Foreign Affairs– Min for Social Affairs and Health– Main DPOs– Special Representative of the Minister for Foreign

Affairs for Disabilty and tolerance– Other experts

• Also at the Institute for Health and Welfare there is a Coordination Group for mainstreaming the implementation of the Gov. Plan of Action

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(2) Guidelines:Simple step by step procedures

• 1) Minimum requirements for all activities:• No direct or indirect discrimination • No increase in health or accident risks

• 2) Checking for disability relevance

• 3) Checking for information adequacy

• 4) Assessing impacts on pwds

• 5) Adjusting the plan according to the level of disability relevance

• 6) References to more specific toolshttp://formin.finland.fi/Public/default.aspx?nodeid=43739&contentlan=1&culture=fi-FI

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(3) Examples of Mainstreaming Investments

• Long history: support to the UN in 1990s resulted in the ”Manual on Inclusive Planning” (1997, 2000, 2003)

• Support to the Word Bank to include disability aspects to PRSP and sector work e.g. Trust Fund for Socially and Ecologically Sustainable Development TFESSD (Norway & Finland)

• Sector-specific mainstreaming: inclusive education initiatives (e.g Ethiopia, South Africa, the Balkans)

• EFA (Education for All) flagship for inclusive education (secretariat at the Univ. of Jyväskylä, Finland)

• Support to the UN Special Rapporteur on Disability

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(4) Partnerships

• DPO Umbrella FIDIDA contracted as the partner organization for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs

• ABILIS –foundation contracted as manager of small grants programme

• Global Partnership for Disability and Develoment (GPDD), funded first by Italy, Finland, Norway and the World Bank, and also been supported by contributions by India, Germany and Italian Fondatsioni (private sector)

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GPDD- a Platform for Dialogue and Collaboration

The Vision: GPDD as Network of various stakeholder networks. To be owned by the Global South, facilitated by the North

South South

North

GPDD& networks

(4) Innovative practices

”SIGNMARK ”

(Mr. Marko Vuoriheimo)

A RAP –artist who is DeafNominated as Minister’s Special Representative on Rights of People with Disabities

Joins Foreign Minister Mr. Alexander Stubb on some Missions

•E.g. MDG-summit 2010,Ethiopia, Tanzania,

Kazakhstan

Purposes– Awareness rising– Encouragement to young

People With Disabilities

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Mainstreaming Challenges

• Relevance of disability in poverty context still not understood everywhere

• Not much demand by partner country governments

• Remains ”NGO business” – not a main stream business

• Mainstreaming needs ”ownership” – ”everyboldy’s business is often nobody’s business”

• Needs investing in core funding for facilitating global ”public goods” for mainstreaming e.g. GPDD

• Private sector enhagement needed

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Lessons learned• Raising awareness through innovative ways rather than by

preaching to the converted

• Forming multistakehoder working groups

• Making use of the logic and command chain of the ”Bureaucracy”:

Design policy->Make the decision->Include in the result matrix -> report -> evaluate -> correct policies and practices

• Designing binding, but simple, guidelines + tools on web

• Budgeting: also better social quality has a price tag

• Nurturing evaluation culture, learning by doing

• Learning from others (e.g. UNIFEM, UN-Women)– E.g. Finnish Gov. First Report on Gender Equality Mainstreaming

(2010)

• Sharing experiences e.g. through UN-DESA

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Thank you!

Contact details

Ronald Wiman

Development ManagerAnd External Senior Advisor on Social Development

to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs

National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL)

P.O. Box 30

FIN-00271 Helsinki, Finland

Tel: +358 206107174

Mobile: +358 405564812

Email: ronald.wiman(at)thl.fi

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