People with disability in Indonesia are at great financial risk. Nearly 9% of the population experience moderate or severe disability, and their costs of participating in society are significantly higher than their non-disabled peers. People with disability are therefore more likely to live in poverty and must often rely on family members for support who are struggling themselves.
While the existing social protections system provides partial income security for persons with disability, 94.5% of the people with severe disability do not benefit from social protection programs. A disability grant for people with severe disability, coupled with meaningful concessions, would offset the additional costs that they incur, and would significantly reduce poverty among persons with disability.
The disability grant could also complement existing social protection schemes, such as the PKH disability benefit as well as the employment insurance schemes that offer disability and worker’s compensation for mainly formal sector workers. A comprehensive social protection system for persons with disability is implemented by over 60 countries globally, including many low and middle-income countries such as Nepal, Vietnam, South Africa, and Mauritius.
The right to social protection for persons with disability is stipulated in the UN Convention of Rights for People with Disability (UNCRPD) and instated in the Indonesian Disability Law (Law No 8/2016).