Persons with Disabilities in Indonesia: Empirical Facts and Implications for Social Protection Policies

The issue of disability is complex and wide ranging, and although much evidence exists globally about its connection to poverty, this report serves as the first truly comprehensive look at disability in Indonesia. Utilising previously collected data from the National Basic Health Research (Riset Kesehatan Dasar or Riskesdas) 2007 and the Indonesian Population Census 2010, this report explores the prevalence of disability and its relationship to poverty. Using a new survey of people with disabilities designed to conform to new international standards on defining and conceptualising disability, the report provides an in-depth look at the barriers that people with disabilities face in participating in Indonesian society. This quantitative information is supplemented by a broad series of qualitative interviews of people with disabiliites, government workers, and other stakeholders—as well as a desk review of the legal framework of disability in Indonesia. The report provides the basis for a series of recommendations to help improve the lives of people with disabilities by giving them access to the rights of people with disabilities acknowledged by the Government of Indonesia when it ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in 2006.