MOHAMMAD REJAUL KARIM SIDDIQUEE

Rokeya (pseudonym), a hearing-impaired woman who is facing mental illness, was advised by her doctor to take psychotherapy for six months. Rokeya and her family failed to find a therapist who knows sign language. Therefore, her doctor prescribed some medicines as an alternative treatment. Rokeya is now being addicted to the medicines that are causing other health issues. Rokeya has the right to access the best available health services according to laws and policies, but the government has no plan to allow her to exercise this right progressively by allocating a yearly budget that can ensure accessible health services for all persons with disabilities.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) sets out to ensure the realisation of all human rights of all persons with disabilities. As a State Party to this convention, Bangladesh has a responsibility to ensure inclusive development where meaningful participation of persons with disabilities will be ensured in the budgeting process, revenue generation and expenditures, implementation, monitoring and other stages of the public budget.

The interest of persons with disabilities has to be paid attention duly during the budget-making process. No national or international jurisprudence has prescribed a concrete and comprehensive guideline for CRPD-compliant budgeting, but we may identify some elements of CRPD-compliant budgeting in line with the general principles (Article 3) and general obligations (Article 4) of the CRPD.

The political will of a state for the development of a particular section of the population is demonstrated in its legal framework. Practically, the public budget statements reflect the real intention of the government.

Due to commitments made to the international communities, the governments of least-developed and developing countries may enact various laws and policies in consistence with the international human rights instruments, but the sincerity and diligence of the government in implementing these laws and policies is evident from the availability, reduction or increase of annual budget allocations in relevant sectors.

For example, if the laws and policies call for the government to promote an inclusive education system, it is naturally expected that the government will take steps every year to realise inclusive education progressively and allocate the budget accordingly. If the government does not allocate this money, it can be assumed that the implementation of a truly inclusive education system is not really on the government’s priority list.

Therefore, persons with disabilities and organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs), NGOs, international NGOs and donors should carefully follow and analyse the national budget statement. Based on the results of the analysis, the OPDs and allies should advocate with the government to influence the budget-making process.

How the budget is analysed is also important in ensuring the rights of persons with disabilities. The enjoyment of the rights of persons with disabilities may be obstructed if the budget is not analysed through the CRPD lens, and the government is not negotiated on the basis of the findings of analysis.