|
Around the globe, people with disabilities are less likely to get an education, have a job and enjoy good health. They are also more likely to experience poverty. So global is this achievement gap that the United Nations has designated a special rapporteur to monitor disability rights.
The problem, writes Roberto Saba of Argentina's University of Palermo, isn't overtly exclusionary laws but insidious structural inequality. Every day people with disabilities confront inumerable barriers, both visible and invisible, like discriminatory attitudes and inaccessible public transit. It's past time for governments worldwide to pursue real equality for the differently-abled. That means creating policies similar to those used by the United States, Uruguay and Brazil to give a boost to women, black people, and other historically marginalised groups in the 20th century.
|
People with disabilities face both physical barriers (like lack of wheelchair ramps) and structural ones.
Chico Ferreira/Reuters
Roberto Saba, Universidad de Palermo
It's past time to dismantle the (often invisible) barriers that keep people with disabilities less healthy, employed and educated than other groups worldwide.
|
Business + Economy
|
-
Sharad Sinha, Nanyang Technological University
When technology evolves, it affects not only your financial position but also your ability to exercise other choices.
|
|
Science + Technology
|
-
Matt Escobar, University of Tokyo
Artificial intelligence is surrounded by fear and mystery because very few understand its inner workings. But it's actually rather intuitive and far simpler than it seems.
|
|
Politics + Society
|
-
Cristiano D'Orsi, University of Johannesburg
A Kenyan court has ruled that the government's closure of Dadaab refugee camp is unconstitutional. This will affect the future of the refugees currently in the camp.
|
|
Arts + Culture
|
-
Hopeton Dunn, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus
South African-Jamaican intellectual, activist and author Peter Abrahams died in January 2017. He will be revered for his contributions to the anti-colonial struggles in Africa and the Caribbean.
|
|
