Inclusion of disability in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a cause for hope that people with disabilities will feel the impact of development progress. Within the SDGs are seven targets that refer to people with disabilities; and the wider 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, of which the SDGs are a part, states that no one must be left behind. It also pledges to reach the furthest behind first. But what does it say about how to approach implementing the SDGs?
Here are some of the key recommendations:
Research is needed to explore how best to achieve the SDGs in the global South, including in relation to disability. It’s important that community members, especially people with disabilities, are part of the process. So what does this look like in practice?
Here’s one way that Sightsavers is doing disability-focused research that fits well with approaches called for in the 2030 Agenda.
Community-based participatory research (CBPR) involves respectful collaboration with the community. It’s about shared decision-making and ownership, and members of the community are involved in planning, gathering evidence, analysing it and sharing what is found. We all contribute and respect the unique strengths that each person brings.
As well as asking specific research questions, the design of this kind of research seeks to break down social injustice and helps everyone to rethink power structures and issues. The overall aim of CBPR is to increase knowledge and understanding of the situation being studied together, to construct meaning together and integrate this with interventions and policy change to improve the quality of life for the community.
With partners we seek out people who live in the local area where the research is taking place, who care about the topic we are researching, but aren’t professional researchers. A small group of about ten men and women then train briefly with a Sightsavers researcher, before interviewing community members and observing professional situations. They also help us to understand what the evidence is saying, and help share the findings. We actively encourage people with disabilities to be part of the team.
The projects connected to the research are mainly linked with these Sustainable Development Goals (though are interlinked with others):
Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunity
Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries
The research questions being asked strengthen specific projects; they also help us to understand priorities and challenges for people with disabilities across the whole 2030 Agenda. There is an alignment between the aims of the 2030 Agenda and the nature of CBPR. This ‘good fit’ holds real potential in the contribution to leaving no one behind.
Sightsavers is teaming up with University College London (UCL) to develop a Community of Practice on the subject – a group of people who share a concern or passion for something they do and learn to do it better as they interact regularly. As more participatory researchers come together, we can inspire each other, collaborate and work out how to overcome tensions and dilemmas involved in carrying out CBPR.
The 2030 Agenda objective of leaving no one behind will be better achieved if children, young people and adults with disabilities are participating in local, national and global research and policy making. CBPR can be a catalyst for real disability-related policy change. Watch this space!
By Margo Greenwood, Research Associate at Sightsavers
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