Core concepts of human rights and inclusion of vulnerable groups in the disability and rehabilitation policies of Malawi, Namibia, Sudan, and South Africa

Mannan, Hasheem; McVeigh, Joanne; Amin, Mutamad; MacLachlam, Malcolm; Swartz, Leslie; Munthali, Alister; Van Rooy, Gert

Core concepts of human rights and inclusion of vulnerable groups in the disability and rehabilitation policies of Malawi, Namibia, Sudan, and South Africa

Date

2012

Authors

Abstract

In recent decades, there has been a push to incorporate the World Health Organization “Health for All” principles in national, regional, and local health policy documents. However, there is still no methodology guiding the appraisal of such policies with regard to the extent that they address social inclusion. In this article, the authors report on the development of EquiFrame, a novel policy analysis framework that was used to evaluate the disability and rehabilitation policies of Malawi, Namibia, Sudan, and South Africa. The policies were assessed in terms of their commitment to 21 predefined core concepts of human rights and inclusion of 12 vulnerable groups. Substantial variability was identified in the degree to which the core concepts and vulnerable groups were featured in these policy documents. The overall summary rankings for the disability policies of the countries studied were as follows: Namibia–High, Malawi–Low, and Sudan–Low. The rehabilitation policy of South Africa was ranked as Low. The results support the idea that adequate disability and rehabilitation policies remain mostly undefined.

Keywords

Human rights, Vulnerable groups, Health policy

Citation

Mannan, H., McVeigh, J., Amin, M., et al. (2012). Core concepts of human rights and inclusion of vulnerable groups in the disability and rehabilitation policies of Malawi, Namibia, Sudan, and South Africa. Journal of Disability Studies, 23(2), 67-81.