Poverty, hunger and handicap are intertwined variables, reinforcing one another in all aspects of life. Poverty is often defined as a poor fulfilment of the basic needs such as food, income and housing. But it extends to much more than only the basic needs; poverty also entails a lack of political, social, cultural and economic opportunities.

• 10% of the world population lives in extreme poverty (source: WHO);
• 20% of those living in extreme poverty suffer from a physical disability (source: World Bank);
• 70% of the estimated 650 million persons with disabilities worldwide live in developing countries;
• 82% of them live below the poverty line (source: UN);
• 80% to 90% of persons with disabilities living in developing countries are unemployed (source: WTO).

Poverty and hunger cause disability

People living in poverty are more susceptible to disability. The circle poverty/hunger-disability starts with the finding that poverty limits the access to education, health care and dignified work conditions. Extreme poverty even results in social and economic exclusion. People living in poverty run an increased risk of health problems, accidents or abuse, all possibly leading to physical disability since:
• Undernourishment causes health problems and as such can lead to disability. A few examples demonstrate the link between nourishment and disability: a vitamin A deficiency is a well-known cause of blindness and a low level of iodine plays a role in a slower mental development of children;
• People living in poverty are often confronted with limited financial means to pay for medical treatments. Infections of the ear and the eye are quite harmless but are well-known causes of disability when they remain untreated;
• Wretched living conditions, as often found in refugee camps and overpopulated slums, are a breeding ground for polio, malaria, cholera and typhoid; all life-threatening when left untreated;
• Unhealthy work and living conditions, civil wars, natural disasters,.. are all linked to disability.

Disability causes poverty and hunger / Poverty and hunger have their roots in disability

People living with disabilities are more vulnerable and prone to poverty. They are confronted with it in every aspect of life and find the possibilities to escape poverty to be scarce. After all, disability comes with a cost:

• People with disabilities need to provide for the immediate expenses of the treatment, their rehabilitation and the purchase of aids;
• People with disabilities face important difficulties in finding a job. Hence, the financial burden often becomes the responsibility of other family members;
• Next to the immediate expenses, the family and/or caretaker are confronted with the secondary consequences of disability: the expenses linked to the continuous care of a family member with disability. They often spend a part of their own income to cover these costs;
• Since people with disabilities living in the South are not protected by health care and social protection mechanisms, they rely on their family members to take care of them. Being primary caretakers, these family members are deprived of an income;
• Children of people with disabilities are often the designated caretakers. They miss out on education and opportunities to develop.

Persons with disabilities are faced with far-reaching problems due to limited physical access to daily aspects of life. Limited accessibility to roads, buildings and the organization of the professional life place an important strain on the chances on a good education, on the job search and on tending to health and the disability. Social isolation is an often-underestimated consequence of these obstacles.

Besides the limited physical access, persons with disabilities also have to overcome limited social accessibility. Too often they are labelled as passive, care needing people who cannot take part in normal daily life. As such they’re denied an active role in the development of society and they face important difficulties in acting upon their economical, social and political rights.

Consequently persons with disabilities often find themselves excluded from general development programs. Since they are not informed about or selected for these programs, the exclusion gets perpetuated. A plain and simple example demonstrate what this means in the reality of every day life.
Persons with disabilities starting up a new business are often denied access to programs granting micro credits; their disability is considered to be a too great a risk to take. A simple example proving poverty is being perpetuated by a hesitating attitude towards the capabilities and rights of persons with disabilities.