Social Protection

International News

Methods for Estimating the Impact of Disability Costs for Designing Inclusive Policies “The method used for examining those extra costs should align with its purpose. For example, analysts should consider whether the aim is to assess the current impact of those expenditures on people’s lives or to determine how social protection programs should be designed.” (Nov, Disabilities)

Estimating the Extra Disability Expenditures for the Design of Inclusive Social Protection Policies. “The Goods and Services Required approach, it is argued, is better than the often used Standard of Living Approach, and has implications for policy design.” (Jul)

Guidance note for consultation: Towards Inclusive Social Protection Systems Enabling Participation and Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (Jun, UNICEF / ILO)

Evidence brief on ensuring older men and women with disabilities are equally included in social protection programmes. (Jan, Disability Evidence Portal)

Working paper on estimating the Extra Costs for Disability for Social Protection Programs. The paper shows how extra costs can vary dramatically, shows methods to estimate extra costs and how social protection programmes can account for them. (2022, ILO and UNICEF)

ILO and UNICEF report on the role of social protection in the elimination of child labour. “Studies from Bangladesh, Nepal and Gansu Province, China, have found that children in households where adults are sick or disabled or have missed work are more likely to be in child labour within or outside the household.” (2022, ILO)

A message to the IMF and World Bank: Targeted Safety Net Programs Fall Short on Rights Protection. (2022, Human Rights Watch)

Coalition of international organizations holding a conference on Disability and Social Protection (2022, Social Protection)

Social Protection and Disability Evidence digest:

'Approaches by governments with schemes labelled for “poor people with severe disabilities who can’t work or care for themselves” have been widely internalised by disability rights activists, who often perceived social protection as demeaning expression charity rather than as rights-based support. [...] As a consequence, in many low- and middle-income countries, the disability movement and their allies did not engage significantly in framing the emergence of social protection systems. ' (2022, SD Direct)

Social protection and access to assistive technology in low- and middle-income countries by friend of the newsletter Alex Cote. (2021, Assistive Technology Journal)

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Latin America and the Caribbean

Disabled people and inclusion in work: the key challenges for social protection systems. (In Spanish, Mar, CEPAL)

The Buenos Aires Committment recognises the importance of autonomy and choice of persons with disabilities in receiving care. (2022, Human Rights Watch)

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Kenya

Integrated cash transfers promoting inclusion of children with disabilities in Mombasa. (May, UNICEF)

Supporting children living with disabilities through cash transfers short video feature. (Mar, UNICEF)

Social protection for disability inclusion in Kenya See also synthesis paper that compares Uganda and Kenya. (2021, Inclusive Futures)

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Nigeria

Persons With Disability Protest Over Diversion Of Rice and Cash supports (Oct, Cross River Watch)

In a leprosy colony residents endure stigma and neglect. “There are 64 leprosy settlements across Nigeria but most are in varying states of disrepair with little to no funding.” The article describes how conditions have deteriorated in one colony since the missionaries who founded the colony then left, but people have remained, and new support is not sufficient. (2022, Aljazeera)

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South Africa

Former Sassa officials jailed for disability grant fraud. “The court heard that the pair had recruited unemployed people from the area, who were not disabled, to apply for disability grants.” (Feb, News24)

The support needs of families raising children with intellectual disability. (2022, African Journal on Disability)

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Uganda

Disability Inclusion Lifts Rural Ugandan Families From Poverty description of a poverty-reduction programme by BRAC (2022, Africa.com)

Social protection for disability inclusion in Uganda. See also synthesis paper that compares Uganda and Kenya. (2021, Inclusive Futures)

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Armenia

Corruption and disrespect in the process of disability assessment “The disability assessment process has been considered the most corrupt for many years. There were many stories in the media about this and criminal cases have been initiated.” (May, Jam News)

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Bangladesh

Police intercept disabled people’s demo heading for Prime Minister's Office to demand for a big increase in the disability allowance. (Jun, New Age) See also further reaction to the recent budget. (Daily Sun)

People with disabilities demand Tk 2,000 a month (2022, New Age Bd)

Deal inked to introduce ‘Bangabandhu Suraksha Bima’ for people with disabilities
a health insurance introduce for people with neurodevelopmental disabilities. (2022, Business Insider BD)

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China

The effect of a disability-targeted cash transfer program on universal health coverage and universal access to education: A nationwide cohort study of Chinese children and adolescents with disabilities. (2022, The Lancet Regional Health)

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Georgia

Pension or disability assistance: an unfair choice? “an older person with disabilities has to choose to receive either a disability benefit or an old-age pension.” (2022, Development Pathways)

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India

In Tamil Nadu, Unique Disability Identity Cards go missing (2022, DT Next)

Tangled In Red Tape, The Disability ID Card Process Is Steeped With Gender Barriers. As well as some of the expected implementation issues, this in-depth article discusses how "these problems multiply for women and transgender persons with disabilities." (2022, Behan Box)

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Indonesia

Government commits to expanding social assurance coverage for disabled people. (2022, Antara)

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Iran

Disability movement protests for benefits and implementation of law (In Persian, Nov, Ilna)

Protests at non-payment of social protection benefits. (In Persian, Mar, @dscampaign1) See coverage on how the protests may have been attacked by police.

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Israel

Israeli army veteran awaiting disability recognition commits suicide ”Or Donio takes his own life few days after similar suicide by another veteran over disability recognition” (Aug)

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Kyrgyzstan

Applying design thinking to develop new service models for inclusion of working age persons with disabilities in community and labour market. (Feb, ILO)

Disability drives innovation in the design of social support services and access to employment programmes in Kyrgyzstan - socialprotection-pfm (2022, SP&PFM)

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Lebanon

The Ministry of Social Affairs Introduces a Social Protection Programme for People with Disabilities. “At least 20,000 individuals will benefit from a monthly allowance of US$40 each over an initial period of 12 months.” (Apr, ILO)

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Malaysia

How an OKU card [disability card] benefits persons with disabilities (2022, Free Malaysia Today)

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Maldives

Access to the Disability Allowance in the Maldives: National coverage and factors affecting uptake: “This research found that 25.6% of people with disabilities across the Maldives are receiving the Disability Allowance. Coverage was lowest for women, older adults, people living in the capital (Malé), wealthier households and people with sensory impairments. Factors affecting uptake included lack of information about the programme, perceptions of disability and eligibility criteria, geographical and financial factors, and stigma.” (2022, Global Social Policy)

Process evaluation of the Disability Allowance programme in the Maldives. “Most importantly, the absence of linkages with the Medical Welfare scheme that provides assistive devices potentially limits the likelihood of the programme achieving intended objectives.” (2022, International Social Security Review)

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Palestine

#PensionsForPalestinians: The story of Mohammad, 68. (Mar, Helpage)

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Sri Lanka

Chaotic Social Security Reform Denies People’s Rights “Aswesuma” Program Applies Complex and Arbitrary Targeting, Leaving Millions in Limbo (Aug, Human Rights Watch)

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Turkey

Lower social benefits trouble Türkiye's disabled citizens. “Türkiye's disabled citizens find themselves squeezed between a lack of employment opportunities and declining social benefits.” (Jan, Bianet)

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Europe

For socially fair European disability cards “The proposal fails however to tackle the key obstacles to freedom of movement for disabled people or to ensure their participation in political decisions which concern them.” (Nov, Social Europe)

Proposals for European Disability and Parking Cards “The European Commission has put its disability cards on the table but it is not a full hand.” (Oct, Social Europe)

EU’s disability card needs to go beyond good intentions. “Services and advantages differ locally, making the card hard to use, groups argue.” (Jul, Politico)

Social protection for people with disabilities An analysis of policies in 35 countries (Mar, ESPN) See a summary from EDF.

For a European Disability Card that makes the freedom of movement accessible. (Jan, ENIL)

Social Protection and the Welfare State: What the EU can do to support persons with disabilities (2022, EDF)

Rebuilding for sustainability and resilience: strengthening the integrated delivery of long-term care. “ European countries must reorient care models to emphasize person-centredness, user involvement, prevention, healthy ageing and enablement. ” (2022, WHO)

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Bosnia and Herzegovina

MPs adopted Amendments to the Law that will significantly increase Disability Benefits up to 80 percent of the minimum wage. (Feb, Sarajevo Times)

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France

The allowance for disabled adults has been “deconjugalized” meaning that income is assessed on an individual basis rather than together with that of your spouse. (In French, Apr, Handicap.gouv)

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Ireland

People with disabilities shouldn’t have to choose between a relationship and their benefits ‘I’m so excited about getting married, but it means I could lose all my disability allowance’ (Sep, Irish Independent)

Each annual budget brings fear. The disability sector is always a target. (2022, The Irish Times)

Data accessed in Rehab disability group cyberattack (2022, Irish Times)

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Poland

Disabled people begin protest in Polish parliament seeking rise in benefits to level of minimum wage. (Mar, Notes from Poland)

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Russia

Russia’s Social Insurance Fund stops publishing disability data after journalists used the information to track injured soldiers. (Sep, Meduza)

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Spain

The reality of persons with disabilities and non-contributive pensions “they say you can work, but in practice it's not like that.” (In Spanish, Jan, 20 Minutos)

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Sweden

Austerity and identity formation: How welfare cutbacks condition narratives of sickness:

“Interviewees describe extreme stress as a result of their contacts with the Social Insurance Agency (SIA), which results in a perpetual crisis that is renewed with each new denied application. In particular, the sense of not having a future means that it is hard to construct narratives to make sense of one’s situation. To escape the perpetual crisis, some people have politicised their situation, constructing a narrative about themselves as suffering from oppressive politics. Others have escaped by not applying for sick insurance or other social insurances. But generally speaking, the most common effect of being denied sick insurance is an ongoing crisis that leads to deteriorating health.” (2022, Sociology of Health and Illness)

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United Kingdom

Disabled people are trying to tell us how benefits system is killing them. “Dr China Mills shares her experiences of pulling together decades of evidence of deaths, protests and failures in the disability benefits system for a new timeline which holds the government to account” (Nov, Big Issue)

UK’s new back to work plan will make life even harder for disabled people “As part of these plans, the government is planning to implement tougher sanctions for people who are judged to not be taking appropriate steps to secure work. The proposed punitive measures include suspending benefit claims altogether and stopping access to free medical prescriptions and legal aid.” (Nov, The Conversation)

Activists raise concerns over human rights record “of the outsourcing company that defeated Atos in the battle for a multi-million-pound disability benefits assessment contract.” (Oct, Disability News Service)

The commodification of social security medical assessments —academic analysis and practitioner experience. (Aug, Public Money and Management)

What would a fair disability benefits assessment look like? “It is apparent that the current disability benefits process isn’t working, so we asked the experts what a fair system would look like, and whether that could exist at all.” (Jul, Big Issue)

The tragic deaths the British press is reluctant to cover exploring deaths linked to cuts in government benefits. (May, Columbia Journalism Review)

A decade after the Tories demonised disabled people on benefits, it’s happening again. (May, the Guardian) See also: open letter from Scope.

Social care costs see thousands chased for debt. “More than 60,000 adults with disabilities and long-term illnesses in England were chased for debts by councils last year after failing to pay for their social care support at home.” (Feb, BBC)

UK government errors denied thousands disability benefits: “Campaigners hit out after data reveals majority of successful appeals were due to Department for Work and Pensions mistakes” (2022, the Guardian)

Five-month disability benefits delay causing hardship (2022, the Guardian)

Government spent £440m fighting disability claimants as whistleblowers claim system broken. (2022, ITV)

Secret DWP report reveals unmet needs of disability benefit claimants (2022, Disability News Service)

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Canada

Ontario quadriplegic mother applies for MAID over lack of access to disability supports. (Jun, Global News)

Canada Disability Benefit Act “enables the Government of Canada to create and deliver a new benefit to working-age persons with disabilities in Canada.” (Jun, Government of Canada) Seen as a “game changer” for people with disabilities living in poverty. (Disability Without Poverty)

What happened to the Canada Disability Benefit? “It is 2022, the election has been won and done, and as the cynics predicted, the Canada Disability Benefit is still nowhere to be seen.” (2022, Canada's National Observer)

This woman with disabilities gets only $1,169 a month. She hopes the Ontario election changes that. (2022, CBC)

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Mexico

Workers with disabilities without social protection. (In Spanish, Apr, Yo También)

Irregularities in Teletón and benefits for the wellbeing of people with permanent disabilities. Also: what Teleton owes us. (In Spanish, Feb, Yo También)

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United States

Toward economic security: 2023 progress report on the Impact of Income and Asset Limits on People with Disabilities:

“As asset and income limits haven’t been scaled to inflation or revised even a penny in 34 years, it means people with disabilities have been forced, by federal policy, to be poorer and poorer, year over year, to qualify for critical supports and services,” said NCD Council member Theo Braddy. “Federal disability policies should be about helping people live independently, get to work, and get out of poverty. The current asset and income limits ensure the opposite.” (Nov, National Council on Disability)

Disability advocates are staging a mass commitment ceremony to raise awareness about marriage penalties. “there are marriage penalties baked into existing benefit programs related to income. These rules prohibit people with disabilities from marrying not explicitly, but implicitly because they would no longer be eligible for benefits.” (Sep, the 19th) See photos and report in the New York Times.

Review of Todd Carmody's book Work Requirements on Race, Disability, and the Print Culture of Social Welfare. “For Carmody, there is a direct line that connects the victimization of those at the periphery in early America with the current ideological divide that separates morally superior workers from the lazy, no-good, physically and mentally ill, criminal, visible minorities of American society.” (Jul, H-Disability)

New bill aims to help low-income people with disabilities save money “The legislation would create a federal dollar-for-dollar match of up to $2,000 for new and existing ABLE accounts for individuals who earn $28,000 or less per year.” (Jul, CNBC)

The Application Process for Disability Benefits Shuts Out People in Need “Most who apply for disability benefits are initially turned down. In fact, as per the SSA, only about a third on average get approved on their first try applying for SSDI, and the percentage of those who are initially approved has decreased each year.” (Jun, The Century Foundation)

Booting 18-Year-Olds From Disability Rolls “About 80,000 kids on SSI turn 18 each year, and, like Gabriel, about half will lose benefits.” And it has has lifelong consequences: “Youth who lost benefits at 18 were twice as likely to be charged with a crime as they were to hold a job.” (Jun, Mother Jones)

Social Security may be failing well over a million people with disabilities – and COVID-19 is making the problem worse.

“The data showed that the share of people with substantial work-limiting disabilities who received Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Income benefits or both rose from 32% in 1998 to 47% in 2016, which was the last year the data was available. This is just a little above the average among 27 high-income countries I compared the data with.” (Apr, The Conversation)

Long Covid disabled them. Then they met a 'broken' Social Security disability process. (Mar, CNN Business)

A Framework for Evaluating the Adequacy of Disability Benefit Programs and its Application to the U.S. Social Security Disability Programs. “The results indicate that more than 50 percent of older adults of working-age with work-disabilities in the U.S. do not receive SSD benefits, though rates of benefit receipt are higher than the average across other high-income countries” (Jan, Journal of Social Policy)

Social Security disability benefit offices reach breaking point with huge claim backlogs. “State operations that review claims face massive backlogs, leaving disabled Americans waiting months and even years for judgments” (2022, Washington Post)

How Dehumanizing Administrative Burdens Harm Disabled People: “All of the systems are set up to really dehumanize disabled people and not to help us.” (2022, Center for American Progress)

Social Security uses obsolete job titles to deny benefits to disabled applicants. (2022, Washington Post)

‘Impending Intergenerational Crisis’: Americans With Disabilities Lack Long-Term Care Plans. (2022, Kaiser Health News)

Disabled Woman Seeks Marriage Equality From Social Security Administration – Files Religious Freedom and Due Process Complaint. “The law cuts off Long’s access to life-saving benefits if she marries. The complaint alleges that the law violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the U.S. Constitution.” (2022, DREDF)

A disability program promised to lift people from poverty. Instead, it left many homeless. (2022, Salon)

‘People will die waiting’. America’s system for the disabled is nearing collapse: “Providers for intellectually and developmentally disabled struggle to recruit and retain staff amid soaring inflation, pandemic burnout.” (2022, Politico)

Inside the Kafkaesque Process for Determining Who Gets Federal Disability Benefits. (2022, Mother Jones)

The Impacts of Disability Benefits on Employment and Crime Discontinuing benefits for children with disabilities as they become adults “increased criminal charges substantially“. (2022, NBER)

Ending the Two-Tier System of Disability Benefits. If you're not already familiar with how Supplemental Security Income (SSI) works, this article has the gruesome lowdown: benefits below the federal poverty line, and you are ineligible to receive them if you don't have other earnings or assets over $2000. (2022, Brown Political Review) See more on how policy punishes disabled people who save more than $2,000 from Full Stack Economics.

Data breach may have exposed personal information of Oklahomans on disability aid list (2022, The Oklahoman)

Millions of disabled Americans could lose federal benefits if they get married (2022, NPR)

Tax authorities raise limit allowed benefit recipients in saving accounts (2022, Disability Scoop)

One of the awful features of some disability-related benefits is a limit of the assets that a recipient can have. California just raised the assets limits for medicare from 2000 USD to 130,000 USD. (link to pdf, 2021, State of California)

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Australia

Lifeboat in the ocean: lessons from Australia Debrief exploration on the National Disability Insurance Scheme. (Nov, Disability Debrief)

Redesigning the NDIS an intersectional perspective on an Australian disability support system, and the need for “radical transformation”. (Sep, DANA)

Careless: How the NDIS fails to protect our most vulnerable “This week's Four Corners exposes criminals, opportunists and registered providers who have been busted exploiting loopholes to overcharge and defraud the NDIS.” (Sep, ABC News)

The disability paradox:

“I could go around all day with a support worker and be safe and supported. And I could continually scout ahead to locate the limited places that are accessible and go only there. But I don’t want to be confined to my own little lifeboat. I want my community to be open to all and inclusive. I want to get bogged at a beach in my wheelchair and know people will help. I want to push into a crowded, heaving mosh pit and join the other dancers.” (Sep, the Guardian)

Clinic associated with cult that teaches that people with disability are experiencing 'karma' receives thousands in NDIS funds. (Aug, ABC News)

Public Advocate leaves woman with dementia without heart monitor for 18 months. “The state controls her mother’s life. Katelyn’s fighting desperately to get it back.” (Jun, ABC News)

Disability assessments and the algorithmic veil: lessons from the abandoned ‘independent assessments’ proposal for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. “This article concludes by asking what a rights-based disability assessment looks like, while critically examining the limits of a narrow focus on disability assessment methodology.” (Jun, Australian Journal of Human Rights)

The government says NDIS supports should be ‘evidence-based’ – but can they be? (May, The Conversation)

NDIS Review – Have your say: a snapshot of what we’ve heard so far. (May, NDIS Review)

NDIS participants 'kidnapped' and financially abused in boarding homes for people with disability, report finds. For example ‘being "coaxed" into changing accommodation and service providers "through offers of fast-food 'treats' like KFC and McDonalds".’ (May, ABC News)

NDIS must focus on ‘outcomes, not just providing services’ (May, Nation)

Suggesting NDIS cuts to pay for expensive submarines is the latest attack on disabled people. “The last few weeks have seen an intensification of the predicted pre-federal budget attacks on the NDIS, with a wide range of articles and interviews being published, and the conservative social media in full agreement. These pieces are often shared alongside disgusting slurs against disabled people.” (Mar, the Guardian)

“There’s been no apology for a mistake that nearly killed me.” The disability community speaks out on Robodebt. (Feb, Hireup)

Disability services need to employ more people with lived experience. “New research from the University of Sydney finds almost a quarter of Australian disability services do not employ any people with disability, and 20% employ less than three people with disability.” (Feb, Phys Org)

NDIS funding isn't just a one-way street – it helps participants secure work and give back to the economy. “I was disabled enough to actually qualify for the Paralympics, but not disabled enough to qualify for any assistance on the NDIS” (2022, ABC News)

Two-year wait for a wheelchair: inquiry hears of difficulty accessing NDIS for remote Indigenous communities (2022, the Guardian)

Hackers Steal a ‘Very Large’ Batch of Private Data from Australia’s Disability Scheme: “this kind of data breach puts vulnerable people at serious risk of identity theft, fraud, and scams,” (2022, Vice)

Two directors of care provider charged with criminal neglect over death of Ann Marie Smith. (2022, the Guardian)

When is a condition 'chronic' and when is it a 'disability'? The definition can determine the support you get (2022, the Conversation)

Concern millions of Australians with disability not on the NDIS have been 'forgotten' (2022, ABC News)

National Disability Insurance Agency scrutinised woman’s social media posts to challenge her eligibility for the scheme (2022, the Guardian)

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New Zealand

Big gap in support funding between disabled people on Ministry of Health and the national accident compensation scheme. (2022, Stuff)

Removing Disabling Experiences a vision for a person-directed system that will “provide four enforceable rights to social and income support, habilitation, and healthcare.” (2022, Warren Forster)

How the government asked for social welfare advice, got it, ignored it, and the impact on people with disabilities. (2022, Stuff)

Disabled people missing out on 'essential' support over relationship status (2022, Stuff)

We need a welfare system that works better for people with disabilities (2022)

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Argentina

Argentina will issue disability certificates that don't expire an interview with Luis Juez: “bureaucracy hurts”. (In Spanish, May, Yo También)

Good news on disability: non-contributory pension scheme for persons with disabilities. (In Spanish, Jan, CTA)

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