Data matter: an overview on the nature and criticalities of the statistics on persons with disabilities to support their inclusion

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) stresses the importance of accurate, reliable, comparable and disaggregated data by conditions and areas of life. There is national and international research, but the UN itself declares them unsatisfactory, denouncing the connection with unequal and ineffective policies on disability. In light of these considerations, this paper intends to present an overview on the nature and criticalities of the statistics on persons with disabilities reviewing the scientific literature. Starting from this framework, the project «More than just numbers» disability data matter, held by the University of Bergamo, will be introduced. It aims at developing a theoretical-methodological model to promote an in-depth, updated knowledge on disability, on the phenomena and the systems related to it, as well as tracing political actions for a truly inclusive society.