Video Message
Dear friends,
Colleagues and advocates,
This year¡¯s International Day of Persons with Disabilities carries the momentum of the recent Second World Summit for Social Development, where the international community reaffirmed that real social progress is only achieved when everyone is included.
Thirty years after Copenhagen, the Doha summit has renewed our collective commitment to place people at the centre of development -- by eradicating poverty, ensuring decent work for all, and fostering inclusive societies.
Despite progress since 1995, the UN Disability and Development Report 2024 shows that progress on 30 per cent of Sustainable Development Goal targets for persons with disabilities is insufficient. Persons with disabilities face higher multidimensional poverty than those without. In the labour market, persons with disabilities are twice as likely to be unemployed and often excluded from the digital transformation.
These are not just statistics; they are structural failures that undermine our collective potential.
The Doha Political Declaration offers renewed hope. It reaffirms our commitment to the full inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It outlines a clear blueprint for action.
First, it calls for social policies and programmes that integrate persons with disabilities as both agents and beneficiaries of development.
Second, it calls for addressing the needs of persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusive, accessible and equitable health services, housing, education, universal social protection and employment opportunities.
Third, it reaffirms the commitment to promoting inclusive societies, enabling full, equal and meaningful participation and leadership for all.
And now, the work of implementation begins.
My Department¡ªUN Department of Economic and Social Affairs¡ªis fully committed to supporting Member States in turning Doha commitments into national policy. Through our support to the Commission for Social Development, the General Assembly and the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, we will continue to provide rigorous data, analysis and technical support.
Crucially, we will strengthen multi-stakeholder engagement and partnerships with organizations of persons with disabilities.
As we move forward, let us remember: societies that work for persons with disabilities are resilient, equitable, and prosperous for all ¨C leaving no one behind.
Thank you!