THE DIGITAL DISABILITY GAP
puts disabled people at risk.
A smartphone with data connection is the most cost-effective aid for anyone with a disability.
We live in a digital era. Mobile devices, especially smartphones, and a connection to the internet have become increasingly essential for everyday life, enabling people to access vital services, such as healthcare and education, up-to-date information and warnings about coming events and to simply communicate with others.
For people with disabilities (PWD) the benefits of these everyday technologies are potentially life-changing, offering greater independence including educational and vocational opportunities, and access to information in formats accessible to everyone.
Crucially, smartphones provide assistive technology that enable and empower owners to establish connection and support from social groups and specialist humanitarian agencies and NGOs.
More than a billion people, between 15 to 19 per cent, of the world’s population live with some form of disability but 90 per cent do not have adequate access to the assistive technologies they require.
The gap in mobile internet useage
People with disabilities are significantly less likely to access mobile internet than non-disabled persons due to the vicious circle of poverty and disability
The disability gap in digital mobile access is caused by several drivers of poverty and literacy amongst people with a disability (PWD) people who are more likely than non-disabled people to face barriers to education and paid work whilst having higher costs of living.
Disability is both a cause and a consequence of poverty: poor people are more likely to become disabled, and people with disabilities are among the poorest of the poor. This relationship can be seen as a vicious circle, with poverty leading to disability and disability worsening poverty.
Even in high-income countries, such as The United Kingdom, poverty is especially high among families with an adult who is disabled, at nearly 33%. If there is a disabled child, the poverty rate is 40% – more than twice the rate where there is no disability.
80% of people with disabilities live in developing countries. The world’s poorest 20% are people with a disability.
In many countries social and cultural norms increase the digital gap for women with a disability who are less likely to access phones and mobile data than non-disabled women.
Women are also more likely than men to have disabling, non-lethal conditions, due to neglect in health care, poor workforce conditions, and/or due to gender-based violence. Globally, women make up three-fourths of the disabled people in low and middle income countries.
The main links between poverty and disability are:
Dangerous and unhealthy living conditions, such as inadequate housing, water and sanitation, and unsafe transportation and work conditions.
The absence or inaccessibility of medical care or rehabilitation. People with disabilities are confronted with extra costs related to disability such as personal assistance, healthcare or assistive devices. These additional costs increase their risk of being poorer than others.
Limited access to education and employment. People with disabilities are more likely to be unemployed and are generally paid less when they are employed.
Social exclusion: People with disabilities often do not have access to public spaces because of physical barriers, and often cannot participate in political decision-making, meaning that their voices are not heard and their needs are overlooked.
Phones & Humanitarian Emergency Response
In 2022, over 40 million people with disabilities will need humanitarian assistance and protection as a result of natural disasters and conflicts.
Access to a mobile phone is crucial to their survival; people with disabilities have a higher mortality rate than the general population during these crises.
Despite being “the world's biggest minority”, people with disabilities are often forgotten and excluded from emergency responses. Preparedness plans do not include the needs of people with disabilities, who are not identified or referred to specialist NGOs. Although aid agency staff do not actively exclude disabled people from programs this lack of inclusion is inadvertent discrimination.
Without the use of mobile internet and reliable, up-to-date advice and information in accessible formats before a crisis they are more likely to remain in their homes and become isolated than non-disabled people, and more likely to be injured or killed. Other factors that increase the vulnerability of people with disabilities during crises include:
Inability to find shelter or evacuate. People with disabilities face the challenge of inaccessible shelters or evacuation assembly points, either by poor design and planning prior to a crisis or due to damaged infrastructure during and after.
Social support networks are disrupted. As communities evacuate, people with disabilities become more isolated and risk separation from care-givers who are often injured or killed whilst searching for help.
Lack of resources and finances. People with disabilities are more likely to be affected by poverty, and have no access to vehicles or other methods of finding safety. They are more likely to be victims of theft at every stage of a crisis.
Technical aids become damaged or lost, limiting mobility and further reducing independence.
Inaccessible aid-distribution points, put people with disabilities at risk of theft, abuse, and exploitation as they rely on others to bring them resources such as food and water.
Exploitation and abuse. As they become more reliant on others due to the above reasons the risk of exploitation and abuse increases. Many NGOs report on the “invisibility” of disabled persons among refugee communities and camps. Reported abuse includes physical violence, denial of food and medicine, harassment, emotional abuse and profound neglect, often times perpetrated by persons known to them
Closing the digital disability gap is the most cost-effective way to protect and support people with disabilities before, during, and after disaster.
Humanitarian aid agencies and Disabled Persons Organisations (DPOs) have the resources and logistics to provide support and assistance to people with disabilities but struggle to identify and contact them.
Closing the digital disability gap by providing free mobile access establishes a reliable communication channel between people with disabilities and the humanitarian service providers best suited to support them. They’re essential to helping the UNHCR and NGOs provide protection against abuse and exploitation.
Mobile devices are essential to allowing people with disabilities equal access to humanitarian aid.
Beyond emergency evacuation, access to phone networks and mobile internet brings greater protection, safety, and inclusion in every aspect of life.
Calling For Help is founded upon the belief that by providing free phone access to people with disabilities before they become refugees empowers them with independence and protection.
Too often aid services for those with disabilities remain on the periphery of the humanitarian response to emergencies and disasters, leaving refugees with a disability dangerously dependent and at risk of exploitation and abuse.
Phone credit provides visibility, protection, and inclusion.
