International Day of Persons with Disabilities

Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality

This year’s theme focuses on empowering persons with disabilities for an inclusive, equitable and sustainable development as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The 2030 Agenda pledges to “leave no one behind”. Persons with disabilities, as both beneficiaries and agents of change, can fast track the process towards inclusive and sustainable development and promote resilient society for all, including in the context of disaster risk reduction and humanitarian action, and urban development. Governments, persons with disabilities and their representative organisations, academic institutions and the private sector need to work as a “team” to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This year, the UN Secretary-General will launch on the Day a flagship report, entitled “UN Flagship Report on Disability and Development | 2018 – Realising the SDGs by, for and with persons with disabilities”. Events at UNHQ on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities at UN Headquarters will bring together Member States, UN entities, Mayors, national and local policy makers, civil society organisations, academic institutes and organisations of persons with disabilities to discuss the way forward for inclusive, equitable and sustainable development. Read more about the events.

What sort of thing does this mean locally? Well….Speaking with some of our ambassadors who live with disabilities, one of the issues they wanted to remind us about was parking, please don’t assume just because you can’t see a disability it doesn’t exist.  Often we park without taking into account we are covering a drop down curb, which makes life difficult particularly for motorised wheelchair users.