PUT US IN THE PICTURE: REPORT ON INCLUDING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

That this House welcomes the Sightsavers' Put Us In the Picture report; notes that despite the fact that over one billion people worldwide have a disability, 80 per cent of whom live in developing countries, too few of them benefit from international aid programmes; agrees with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development that disability is the great neglected issue in development; further welcomes the International Development Select Committee's current inquiry into disability; believes that the potential for people with disabilities to contribute to global development is being missed because their specific needs and voices are not being taken into consideration; agrees that only with the active inclusion of people with disabilities in both UK aid programmes, and the framework that will replace the Millennium Development Goals in 2015, eliminating extreme poverty and achieving universal primary education will become realistic goals; calls on the Government to build on its recent progress by adopting a systematic approach to ensuring that people with disabilities benefit equally from, and have a voice in, international development; and urges the Government to champion disability in international development discussions.