SITUATIONS OF PWDs (People With Disabilities)

There is no as such comprehensive database as to the number and socio-economic situation of PWDs in our country. Plus the stigma that cripples the minds of the people keeps the victims hidden because of the negative connotation given to being disabled as though it is a curse. This is reflected on the socio-cultural context of the society at different levels and due to the controversies in using the term “disability” by itself. Dispit all those limitations, existing primary and secondary sources and case studies in other societies who have similar socio-economic situations could give us the trend, depth of the problems and their seriousness. Baseline surveys at pilot project areas in our country do also give a picture of some of the facts on the ground.

According to an estimate made by the World Health Organization (WHO), one out of every ten persons living in low-income countries is disabled by physical, mental or sensory impairments. It also depicts that at least 25 percent of any population is adversely affected by the presence of disability. In these countries as many as 80 percent of all persons with disabilities live in rural areas where there are poorly developed facilities (CBR magazine). Even In some of them, the percentage of disabled population is estimated to be as high as 20 percent. Thus, if families and relatives are included, almost 50 percent of the population could be adversely affected by disability and its ramification. It is also to be noted that the problem of disability is further compounded by the population explosion, which inexorably pushes up the number of disabled persons both in proportional and absolute terms especially in countries where health facilities are poorly available. Other incidences such as war, landmine, occupational injury and the like constitute the larger number which could be sighted as a reason for the increment of the number of PWDs.

Less than 5% of PWDs do have access to basic facilities like education, health service, employment…; like wise the real situation of the traumatic victims of war and conflict situations that constitutes large portion of the disabled community in Tigray region does not have an extremely different picture to what has been mentioned above. According to the 1994 population and housing census, among the total disabled population in the country, 83.16 percent live in rural areas while only 16.84 percent reside in urban centers. This implies that most of the disadvantaged sections of the society live in areas where there are meager rehabilitation services and are not able to get access to basic facilities. According to the same source, there were 98,829 PWDs in Tigray region. Tigray region has the largest number of traumatic victims of war due to the two decades of civil war fought in this part of the country. The degree of disability ranges from complete loss of vision and hearing to the loss of one or more limbs.

Next Page