“Together
for a better world for all including
persons with disabilities in development”
It is 30 years since the United Nations first observed the International
Year of Disabled Persons under the theme “Full
Participation and Equality”.
During that period, there
has been significant progress in raising awareness about the rights of persons
with disabilities and in strengthening the international normative framework to
realise those rights – from the World
Programme of Action (1982) to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (2006).
More and more countries
are committing to protecting and promoting the rights of
persons with disabilities.
However, many challenges
remain.
Persons with disabilities experience higher
rates of poverty and deprivation and are twice as likely to lack health care.
Employment rates of persons with disabilities
in some countries are as low as one-third of that of the overall population.
In developing countries, the gap in primary
school attendance rates between children with disabilities and others ranges
from 10 per cent to 60 per cent.
This
multi-dimensional exclusion represents a huge cost, not only to persons with
disabilities but to society as a whole.
This year’s
International Day of Persons with Disabilities reminds us that development can
only be sustainable when it is equitable, inclusive and accessible for all.
Persons with disabilities need therefore to be
included at all stages of development processes, from inception to monitoring
and evaluation.
Addressing
negative attitudes, the lack of services or ready access to them, and other harmful
social, economic and cultural barriers will benefit all of society.
On this
International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I call on governments, civil
society and the global community to work for and alongside persons with
disabilities to achieve inclusive, sustainable and equitable development
worldwide.
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