International Day of Persons with Disabilities, 3rd December
The 3rd December is International Day of Peoples living with disabilities, over one billion people worldwide are living with a disability which causes barriers in some key aspects of society. The day creates awareness for people living with disability, with the aim of promoting empowerment, and helping to create real opportunities for people with disabilities.
This year, we are celebrating the challenges and difficulties for people who live with disabilities, of a global pandemic. The pandemic affected everyone but especially those with disabilities, many people were advised to isolate when the pandemic was at is highest. Others found it increasingly difficult to do day to day activities, due to reduced help they were previously getting. Everyone in the community came together to help those who were most vulnerable, from getting the essential food shopping to collecting and delivering prescriptions.
We want to recognize everyone with a disability that in one way or another has struggled through the pandemic. Every single one of us can make a difference to learn from the experiences of people living with disabilities during this pandemic and educate ourselves and others which will reduce the obstacles faced by people with disabilities in every community.
The United Nations launched the Disability inclusion strategy in June 2019 and now each year there is International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which is on December 3rd this year.
There is an article regarding this on The United Nations website
‘Disability inclusion is an essential condition to upholding human rights, sustainable development, and peace and security. It is also central to the promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to leave no one behind. The commitment to realizing the rights of persons with disabilities is not only a matter of justice; it is an investment in a common future.
The global crisis of COVID-19 is deepening pre-existing inequalities, exposing the extent of exclusion and highlighting that work on disability inclusion is imperative. People with disabilities—one billion people— are one of the most excluded groups in our society and are among the hardest hit in this crisis in terms of fatalities.
Even under normal circumstances, persons with disabilities are less likely to access health care, education, employment and to participate in the community. An integrated approach is required to ensure that persons with disabilities are not left behind.
Disability inclusion will result in a COVID19 response and recovery that better serves everyone, more fully suppressing the virus, as well as building back better. It will provide for more agile systems capable of responding to complex situations, reaching the furthest behind first.
The United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy
When launching the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy in June 2019, the Secretary-General stated that the United Nations should lead by example and raise the Organization’s standards and performance on disability inclusion—across all pillars of work, from headquarters to the field.
The United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy provides the foundation for sustainable and transformative progress on disability inclusion through all pillars of the work of 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 October 2021, the Secretary-General submitted his second report on steps taken by the UN system to implement the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy in 2020. Given the impact of the COVID-19 on persons with disabilities, the report also contains a brief reflection on disability-inclusive COVID-19 response and recovery'. Continue reading this https://www.un.org/en/observances/day-of-persons-with-disabilities
What are thoughts on this?
Courtesy of The United Nations https://www.un.org/en/observances/day-of-persons-with-disabilities
