Monday: International Day of Persons with Disabilities
December 04, 2012: Highlighting the need to guarantee disabled people equal access
to services and opportunities worldwide, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
on Monday called for a new global push aimed at “creating societies that value diversity
and inclusion.”
In his message marking International Day of Persons with Disabilities,
Ban also pointed to next year’s UN General Assembly’s high-level meeting on disability
and development, saying it is meant to “spur action to bridge the gap between well-meaning
commitments and long-overdue actions.”
Monday’s International Day marks the
official launch of preparations for the High-Level Meeting, which will take place
in September at UN Headquarters in New York, and build on development targets world
governments are setting to succeed the anti-poverty agenda enshrined in the 2000-2015
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
More than one billion people – about 15
per cent of the world’s population – live with some form of disability. The UN has
promoted an International Day on behalf of the disabled since 1992, when the General
Assembly recognized the International Day of Disabled Persons. It was also in 2007
that the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities opened for signature.
Entering into force in 2008, the Convention recognizes the barriers disabled people
face are a central component of their respective disabilities and, because of that,
it says that disabled people have fundamental rights to both accessibility and inclusion. As
of last month, 126 countries, representing two-thirds of UN Member States, had ratified
the Convention. Saying that the international community must “strive to achieve” the
Convention’s goals, Mr. Ban noted that this summer’s UN Conference on Sustainable
Development (Rio+20), which took place in Brazil, had already highlighted that – as
they searched for a formula for a “sustainable” future in which human needs are met
through resource-use that preserves the environment.
“Our challenge is to provide
all people with the equality of access they need and deserve,” Mr. Ban said. “Ultimately,
this will create a better world for all,” he added, recalling that Rio+20 negotiators
“agreed (that) accessibility is critical to achieve the future we want.” In his
message, the Secretary-General also said that people with disabilities had already
made a “significant positive impact” on society, but stressed that their contributions
can be even greater “if we remove barriers to their participation.” “This year’s
Paralympic Games were a reminder of the immense potential of persons with disabilities
to soar and to inspire,” Mr. Ban noted, citing the international multi-sport competition
that took place in London this year, and which coincide with the Olympic Games every
four years. The UN chief also used his message to salute the American musical performer
Stevie Wonder for his work behalf of the world’s disabled. Wonder, himself blind since
shortly after birth, has served as UN Messenger of Peace since 2009. “After playing
a spectacular UN Day concert at our Headquarters this year, he said, ‘I haven’t even
touched one iota of what I want to do for and through the United Nations to help heal
this world,’ Ban said of Wonder, adding that the singer “embodies the spirit of service
to others.”