Exploring Disability Policy in Africa: An Online Search for National Disability Policies and UNCRPD Ratification

Abstract

This research brief presents a search for national policies on disability and UN CRPD ratification in African countries. The results of the search found that over half of the countries in continental Africa have a current disability policy and that the majority of countries have ratified the UN CRPD. Many of the countries that have neither ratified the UN CRPD nor implemented national policies on disabilities are characterized by conflict and/or weak or absent governments. We anticipate that the results could be beneficial in providing a scope of disability policy in Africa and in helping to easily identify policy and/or geographic locations for future detailed policy analysis.