Imagine what Assistive Technology can do for the Sustainable Development Goals
By Pascal Bijleveld, CEO, ATscale, the Global Partnership for Assistive Technology
19 September 2023
When they signed up to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), world leaders promised to Leave No One Behind. At this year’s SDG Summit therefore, they should take a closer look at the 2.5 billion people who need assistive technology (AT). Without increasing access to AT, we simply will not achieve the SDGs.
Yesterday evening, ATscale, in partnership with USAID, UNICEF and the International Disability Alliance (IDA), hosted a side event right across the road from UN HQ, where the high-level summit is taking place. The event was successful in its aim to shine a light on the relevance of assistive technology for achieving the SDGs. A packed room of people attending the SDG Summit, UNGA, and High- Level Meetings taking place in New York this week, including delegations from member states, as well as the private sector, UN entities, civil society, and foundations, listened to users of AT share their personal stories of how assistive technology has transformed their lives and the lives of others. But, I asked one question. Why are we having this conversation in a room across the road from where the high-level discussions are taking place and commitments being made? This issue is too critical to be only taking place on the sidelines of such an important summit.
ATscale Chair and CEO Jon Lomoy and Pascal Bijleveld making opening statements at the evening reception
Photo credit: Alex Mora, DOK Productions @xelaarom
With inequality preventing or reversing so much progress on sustainable development, the idea to “Leave No One Behind” has become a vital mantra for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): How do we make sure that everybody everywhere has access to health and education? How do we protect the most marginalized groups from climate change?
These discussions are certainly timely given that we are way off track to meet these ambitious targets, which aim to end poverty and reduce inequality by 2030. But can any of us be surprised by this slow progress when the discussions have so far failed to include those in need of assistive technology?
AT is life changing for people with disabilities, as well as for older people, people with injuries, and people with chronic conditions too. Some 2.5 billion people need at least one form of AT and by 2050 this figure will likely rise to 3.5 billion. Without AT, more than 30 percent of our global population would struggle to meet their most basic human needs.
AT enables people to see, hear, communicate, move around, and more. It also allows them to work, study, and simply to connect with other people. That makes it a powerful way to accelerate sustainable development, potentially moving the needle on at least nine SDGs covering poverty, health, education, gender equality, decent work, innovation, inequality, climate action, and partnerships.
But hundreds of millions of people do not have the AT that they need. This absence of AT, especially in the world’s poorest regions, compounds existing social and economic inequalities. It is harder to escape from poverty, for example, when you cannot get to work.
In high-income countries, 90 percent of people have access to assistive technologies, but in poorer countries this figure falls to 10 percent. And in some countries AT is accessible for just three percent of the people who need it!
This inequality makes AT an important social justice issue. By allowing this lack of access to continue, we are leaving people behind, often literally and physically. It is desperately and outrageously unfair.
Meanwhile, this summer, the northern hemisphere experienced some of its hottest temperatures ever, reminding us that climate change brings its own set of dangers. People with AT needs are especially at risk. Imagine being a wheelchair user, for example, and trying to escape a wildfire.
Climate is not the only threat, of course. For those trapped by fighting in Sudan or Ukraine, wheelchairs can be the difference between life and death for anybody trying to escape or reach a bomb shelter.
No wonder the UN estimates that persons with disabilities, a major AT user group, are four times more likely to die during a disaster (Source: Inter-Agency Standing Committee, July 2019, page 3).
The Benefits of Assistive Technology
The good news is that boosting access to AT brings a ninefold return on investment. When AT users participate in society, they bring an extra pool of talent. This makes it an opportunity not just for those who need the AT. It is also partly why inclusive societies tend to be more prosperous, stable, and resilient.
Take Mohammad, for example. Originally from Myanmar, he was a tailor and the only breadwinner in his family when in 1991 he lost both his legs to a landmine. Today, his prosthetic legs allow him to walk and pedal a sewing machine again, meaning that he can provide for his family.
Credit: Ovijit Baidya, Humanity and Inclusion Photo Credit: ©Humanity & Inclusion/HI
So how do we get more people to access these assistive technologies?
First, we need to recognize the win-win solutions. There is a massive, unmet market opportunity, which should be of serious interest for the private sector. China produces more AT than any other country, including for export around the world, but significant possibilities exist for other countries if they can incentivize local production.
While access to AT is necessary, however, it may not always be sufficient. Smartphone apps can help people with sight and hearing impairments, but not everybody can afford a smartphone and not everybody knows how to use one. The effective supply of wheelchairs or hearing aids requires trained personnel, quality controls, close follow-up and, in most cases, financial subsidies too.
Second, civil society, and especially AT users, can help by sharing information, advocating for change and explaining the available solutions. When societies understand the socio-economic benefits of increasing access to assistive technologies, then progress has been made. Changing attitudes unlocks a myriad of other policy and behavioural improvements.
Third, governments must take the lead in creating the inclusive and enabling environment that will allow those with AT needs to flourish. Create the appropriate market, regulatory, and social conditions. Figure out the obstacles to increased access and correct them. Fulfil the obligations of signing up to the Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Fourth, we need bilateral and multilateral donors to ramp up their financial support. We are working with our partners to provide AT to an additional 500 million people in low- and middle-income countries by 2030. To achieve this, we are looking to raise USD 300 million in the next few years to catalyze further investments at the global and national levels. This amount is about 0.1 percent of the annual commitment by rich countries for low-income nations to spend on climate change. It seems a small price to pay for progress on more than half the SDGs.
ATscale event on the margins of the SDG Summit. Michele Sumilas, Assistant to the Administrator of the Bureau for Policy, Planning, and Learning at USAID, makes her opening statement. UN Headquarters can be seen through the window.
Photo credit: Alex Mora, DOK Productions @xelaarom
Fixing unequal access to AT will enable hundreds of millions of people to participate more effectively in society. It reduces other inequalities and accelerates progress towards the SDGs. If world leaders are serious about Leaving No One Behind, then without hesitation they should turn their attention to assistive technology. We cannot achieve the SDGs without it. With this growing movement that we are building together and positive momentum, I hope that we can commit by next year to have a meaningful conversation in the UN General Assembly around assistive technology and inclusion. Let’s build on this positive momentum together, bring member states and partners along and we can make it happen.