Disability data and its situational and contextual irrationalities in the Global South

Abstract

The inconsistent implementation of disability rights in crisis responses such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated the double difficulty that persons with disabilities (PwD) must face. Ableism remains the basis for pandemic responses, leading to a range of irrationalities in collecting and using disability data during critical times. This commentary identifies situational and contextual rationalities in disability data collection and use in Global South. Through vignettes from Indonesia and Vietnam, this commentary illuminates the socio-technical and cultural infrastructure that perpetuates the obscurity of disability rights in the pandemic responses in, respectively, the largest democratic and socialist-communist countries in Southeast Asia. In addition to better listening to the voice of PwD, stronger engagement of organizations of PwD in policy making and programming is advocated for enabling more equitable pandemic preparedness, response, and recovery plans to manifest in future.