Activities of the United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific in Disability StatisticsKak-en Lau
Director, Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific, Tokyo
Abstract The purpose of this brief paper is two-fold. First, it provides information on the activities in disability statistics of the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (known as SIAP), which is a regional training institute for official statisticians located in Tokyo, and is a subsidiary body of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, also called ESCAP. Second, it highlights those issues in disability statistics which SIAP considers important and are addressed in the Institute's activities in this area.
SIAP's Activities
While providing training in the traditional areas of official statistics, SIAP's course contents in recent years are also being suitably refocussed to encompass emerging issues of importance in the field of statistics. As a step in this direction, and of relevance to this workshop, is that in the curriculum of SIAP's basic 6-month Group Training Course in Practical Statistics, which normally attracts participants from the national statistical offices of about 30 countries each year, disability statistics is now a topic that is taught regularly. In this course, participants who are mainly junior level official statisticians are introduced to the concepts, coverage, classifications and methodology for the collection of disability statistics. They are also exposed to the literature and training materials in order that they are able to grasp the underlying issues and practicality of data collection, should they ever be assigned duties in the collection and compilation of statistics on disability.
For statisticians with specific responsibilities for producing disability statistics, and development officials for using them for policy formulation, SIAP would organise tentatively in the second quarter of 1999, a specialised regional training workshop aimed at strengthening national capabilities in the collection and compilation of disability statistics. The proposed activity, which could eventually become a regular event in the Institute's calendar, to be financed partially by the Institute from its institutional budget to benefit the developing Asian and Pacific countries, will be in cooperation with ESCAP secretariat and pro-active national statistical offices.
The workshop has three objectives. First, it will provide training to national statistical office personnel in the concepts, definitions, classifications and scope of disability statistics, as also in the methods of collecting and compiling data on disability including questionnaire design, special data collection problems, and tabulation and presentation of disaggregated disability data. Second, it will enhance user awareness of the full potential of existing data sources for the purpose of strengthening disability policies and plans, as also for monitoring and evaluation of the progress of equalisation of opportunities for people with disabilities. Third, dialogue and exchange of experience among producers and users of disability statistics will be facilitated with a view to establishing cooperation between the two groups, in order - (a) to instill greater appreciation among users of disability statistics of the problems faced by data producers, and (b) to strive that the compiled data on disability meets adequately the information needs for a proper formulation of policies targeted towards the inclusion of disabled persons into the mainstream development programmes.
Major Issues in Disability Statistics
A general issue is that although disability has received increased attention in the ESCAP region, formulation of development programmes and policies for enabling the full participation of persons with disabilities in the everyday activities is constrained by the dearth of disability statistics and the inadequacy of the existing data. In most of the developing countries it is, in fact, difficult to ascertain the prevalence of disability and, even more so, estimate disability trends into the 21st century.
Turning to specific issues, since common coverage and definitions of disability are not uniformly applied by countries, international comparisons of disability data are difficult. Thus, there is wide variation in the estimation of disability rates reported by the countries and greater effort is required to adapt internationally agreed scope, concepts, definitions and classifications, possibly including survey methodologies, techniques and questionnaires.
Special efforts are also required to address the problem of low disability rates due to non-statistical reasons and originating mainly from cultural factors peculiar to the region (although it is also to some extent a global constraint) and which are associated with the tendency of families not to disclose that any members are disabled, indeed to hide them. Similarly, individuals are reluctant to self-identify as disabled persons, especially in the case of old aged people and persons with psychiatric problems. Therefore, the adoption of an appropriate survey methodology and training of field interviewers in appropriate techniques of eliciting information on disability is a critical aspect for enhancing the reliability of data.
Lastly, in order to ensure that the data collected reflects correctly the causes and magnitude of disability, two additional aspects should be kept in view. First, close dialogue and cooperation between the relevant governmental departments entrusted with policy on disability and the national statistical offices is required to enable application of correct methodologies and use of operationally adequate definitions in the collection of statistics on disability. Second, given the highly technical nature of definitions and classifications of disability, and the sensitivity required to address the many facets of disability data collection, practical considerations would dictate that only basic information on disability could at best be collected through the country-wide decennial censuses. The collection of comprehensive and detailed disability statistics would have to depend on well-designed sample surveys which can be taken using the census frame as the starting point. For cost considerations, it could be integrated as an extension of existing household surveys which, however, would require careful planning.
Where disability data is seldom or not at all collected, it is often due to an absence of concern over the need for measures to improve the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the development process. It could also be due to low priority accorded to disability issues, or the lack of recognition of disability data as important by the relevant national agencies, such as, the departments for social welfare statistics, and education and training. Other reasons could include a shortage of trained and experienced personnel to conduct disability data collection, or the lack of resources with the users of disability data.
In the developing Asia and Pacific region, where low income countries are preponderant, assigning low priority to disability in a situation where a limited budget has to exercise choice between competing needs is a very common phenomenon. Technical and financial assistance of international agencies or organisations and donor governments for supporting programmes which facilitate capability building for collection of data on disability will therefore remain an important element of the regional effort to assess the physical magnitude of the disability problem.
Mrs. Karen Ngai
Executive Editor
c/o Division of Social Studies
City University of Hong Kong
Tat Chee Avenue
Kowloon
Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2788 8834
Fax: (852) 2788 7709
E-mail: scngai@cityu.edu.hk