Improving the inclusion of people with disabilities in official data and decision-making is at the heart of a partnership of Pacific organisations, with a multi-year project funded by Australia launched this International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
The Pacific Community (SPC), Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Pacific Disability Forum, UNICEF and the national statistics offices of Fiji, Kiribati and Samoa are leading the development of disability statistics across the region with a programme of initiatives through to 2026 supported by the Government of Australia.
Launched this International Day of Persons with Disabilities—one of ‘16 Days’ observed by SPC in November and December—the 2024 theme ‘Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future’ emphasises the participation of people in decision-making that affects their lives.
Embodying this principle of ‘nothing about me without me’, SPC and the Pacific Disability Forum will provide regional coordination of the work plan that has collaboration alongside people with disabilities and organisations providing disability representation and support at its core.
The project aims to address the significant gaps in disability data and promote evidence-based policymaking—enhancing the inclusion and well-being of persons with disabilities in Pacific countries and territories.
It is led by the Pacific Group on Disability Statistics established five years ago, inspired by—and under the umbrella of—the Washington Group on Disability Statistics.
The major objective of the Pacific and Washington Groups is to support statistics on disability that are comparable across borders. Standard sets of questions have been drafted and tested to suit censuses and survey data collection on everyday life and function rather than medical conditions. This means that they can be easily translated and used to contrast populations despite sometimes vast cultural, linguistic and economic differences.