Developing disability statistics that show the living conditions of people with disabilities including those who do not have access to the system is critical for the development of comprehensive disability policies aimed at equalisation of opportunities. Disability statistics must also make a comparison between disabled and non-disabled populations in order to show in-direct discrimination. This is extremely relevant in the region as countries begin to introduce anti-discrimination legislation.
To develop a set of statistical indicators in line with these new policies is also a clear challenge in the three countries. These indicators must be in line with the new social and human rights approach to disability. They cannot be limited to the existing information but should describe the living conditions of people with disabilities, the obstacles they are facing, measure the equalisation of opportunities and allow for the monitoring of their rights. In order to maximize this process, cooperation between statistical institutes, relevant line ministries and the DPOs must take place.
To calculate these new social policy indicators on disability, throughout the region, stakeholders will have to consider a different approach combining different ways of collecting information on disability. For example, in order to monitor the implementation of policies geared towards equalisation of opportunities in employment, there will have to be statistical indicators developed to measure access of people with disabilities to mainstream employment services as well as indicators on employment rates in the open labour market, retention rates at work and income levels.
Of course registers could still provide irreplaceable information on various aspects of disability services, but surveys are essential to get the general picture on the overall population. There is a strong momentum in the region for getting data on disability with the on-going surveys funded by the World Bank in all of the three countries. However, national authorities, central statistics offices and DPOs need to be involved in the process so that the information is relevant and useful to all stakeholders. The involvement of all actors will also be critical for instilling a sense of ownership within national actors so that they will analyze and use the data that is collected for policy-making, further research and lobbying.