UN reiterates to set example on disability rights

NEW YORK: The United Nations is determined to “lead by example” when it comes to the rights of people with disabilities, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a message to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which is being observed Tuesday.

This year, in June, the UN chief launched a Disability Inclusion Strategy, to raise the Organization’s standards and performance.

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It provides a foundation for sustainable and transformative progress on disability inclusion across the United Nations.

The UN chief said “When we secure the rights of people with disabilities, we move closer to achieving the central promise of the 2030 Agenda: to leave no one behind”.

One billion people around the world – one in seven of the total population – have some form of disability. More than 80 per cent of them live in developing countries, and around half cannot afford health care.

People living with disabilities face stigma, discrimination, and ignorance, as well as a lack of social support for those who care for them.

These factors put them at a higher risk of violence, and children with disabilities face a greater than four-fold risk of experiencing violence than children without.

In his message, the secretary-general re-affirmed the commitment of the United Nations “to work with people with disabilities to build a sustainable, inclusive and transformative future in which everyone can realize their potential.”

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“While we still have much to do, we have seen important progress in building an inclusive world for all,” he said.

“Almost all United Nations Member States have ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and I urge those who have not yet done so to ratify it without delay.”

In June, Guterres launched a Disability Inclusion Strategy, to raise the Organization’s standards and performance.

It provides a foundation for sustainable and transformative progress on disability inclusion across the United Nations.

Through the Strategy, the United Nations system reaffirms that the full and complete realization of the human rights of all persons with disabilities is an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

In addition, the Security Council adopted, for the first time, a resolution dedicated to the protection of persons with disabilities in armed conflict.

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Almost all Member States have now ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Mr. Guterres urged those countries that have not yet done so, to ratify the Convention without delay.

Disability is recognized as an issue that cuts across several parts of the 2030 Agenda. It is referred to in several of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Specifically in the areas of education, growth and employment, inequality, and accessibility of human settlements, as well as data collection and monitoring of the SDGs.