Jawairiya is a final-year Development Studies student at Bahria University Karachi with a passion for social justice, inclusive development, and community empowerment.

Estimated figures suggest that 27 million people in Pakistan live with an intellectual or physical disability. According to the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund’s (PPAF) 2012 Disability Survey, 8 in 100 persons have a disability in Pakistan. Disability prevalence is slightly higher in rural areas (3.2%) compared to urban regions (2.9%).

World Health Organization (WHO) defines disability in three broad dimensions: impairment in the body or mental function, activity limitation such as in walking or seeing, and participation restrictions in daily life such as working, recreational activities, or receiving healthcare services. 

Globally, persons with disabilities (PWDs) have inequitable access to healthcare, lower levels of education, and higher poverty rates due to social and economic exclusion. The major reason behind this is the systemic barriers in basic services and social protection like health, education, employment, and transport. Moreover, the situation is bleaker in developing countries like Pakistan, where social services, institutions, and governance systems are already weak. 

Although education lays the foundation of a productive workforce and human capital, only a small portion of people with disabilities learn to read and write, and even fewer complete secondary education, with most schools lacking accessibility infrastructure such as ramps, and qualified professionals like interpreters and trained teachers, most families either decide to send their children with disabilities to specialized centers or not send them to school at all. Although many specialized centers are now working on skills training and capacity building but those are also limited to urban hubs. 

A working paper........

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