By IDA

 - July 7, 2019

July 2019

On this page:

  1. Welcoming the new Alternate Representative of the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities!
  2. Pre-meetings for the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities
  3. Information! General information for the HLPF
  4. Information! - 47 Voluntary National Reviews
  5. Participate! Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities official HLPF side event on Goal 10
  6. Information! High-level Political Forum Official Programme 
  7. Participate! VNR Labs
  8. Participate! Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities Learning, Training and Practice Session
  9. Participate! SGPwD Exhibition Space at HLPF!
  10. Information! UN funded participants selected

Welcome to the 2019 High-level Political Forum! This year, the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities will bring its largest delegation to the HLPF yet with over 80 participants. Kindly see below for important information about the HLPF. 

For updates during the HLPF about what the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities is doing, kindly follow us on Twitter at @IDA_CRPD_Forum and connect with us on Facebook at the International Disability Alliance page.  All official sessions of the HLPF will be broadcast on the UN’s website. Kindly find all broadcast events at the following link: http://webtv.un.org/

1. Welcoming the new Alternate Representative of the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities!
We would like to congratulate Mr. Mohammed Ali Loutfy, Disabled People’s International, on being elected to serve as the Alternate Representative of the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities (SGPwD) for the next two years. As the Alternate Representative, Mr. Loutfy will facilitate the public representation of the SGPwD and promote and coordinate the active participation of members in national, regional and global meetings related to sustainable development in collaboration with the Permanent Representative of the SGPwD, Mr. Jose Viera.

2. Participate! We will be holding two HLPF pre-meetings for the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities
There will be two pre-meetings for all participants of the SGPwD. The first meeting will be held on Sunday, July 7th at 6:00 PM at the International Disability Alliance office (205 East 42nd Street, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10017). All participants are invited to join us for pizza and drinks. The second meeting will be held on Monday, July 8th from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM time at the United Nations Headquarters in the Qatar Lounge. All participants who could not make the Sunday meeting are invited to join us.

3. Information! General information for the HLPF - We are ready to engage in all dialogues and discussions!
The 2019 High Level Political Forum (HLPF) under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council will be held in New York from 9-18 July 2019. The theme for the forum is "Empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality". The set of Goals to be reviewed this year is Goal 4, 8, 10, 13, 16 and 17. More information about the HLPF can be found here.

4. Information! - 47 Voluntary National Reviews - We have persons with disabilities attending from 16 of the VNR countries!
During the second week of the July 2019 HLPF, 47 countries will present Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs), regarding their progress in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Civil society, including the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities, will have an opportunity to deliver short comments and ask key questions following each VNR presentation.  

40 countries will present for the first time and 7 countries will present for a second or third time. Countries who will present this year include: Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Congo (Republic of the), Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Eswatini, Fiji, France, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Iceland, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nauru, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania and Vanuatu.

Please let us know if you are from one of the 47 countries that will be reviewed and would like to contribute to your country’s review at HLPF by emailing us at HLPF2019 [at] ida-secretariat.org

5. Participate! Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities official HLPF side event on Goal 10 - Persons with disabilities from all regions, including Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and Latin America, will speak!
The Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities, in collaboration with the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, Permanent Missions of Australia, Luxembourg, Belgium, Canada and the Republic of Zambia to the United Nations, International Disability Alliance, CBM, European Disability Forum, Leonard Cheshire, Humanity & Inclusion, Equinet, Bridging the Gap project, Disabled People’s Organisations Denmark, UNESCO GLobal Education Monitoring Report and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, is organizing an official side event during the first week of the HLPF. 

The side event, titled “Reducing Inequalities: A Look at Persons with Disabilities,” will be held on Wednesday, July 10th from 1:15 PM to 2:45 PM in Conference Room 5 of the UN Headquarters. The side event will be accessible with International Sign interpretation and real-time captioning. The list of speakers and programme for the side event is still forthcoming.

6. Information! High-level Political Forum Official Programme - Mr. George Khoury will represent the SGPwD as an official discussant on the first day of the HLPF in the session entitled “Progress, Gaps, and Obstacles: Are we on track for leaving no one behind?”
The official programme for the High-level Political Forum is now available. Included in the programme is information about official sessions, special events and side events.

We are pleased to announce that Mr. George Khoury of Lebanon has been selected by the UN as an expert speaker and will speak on the first day of the official programme, Tuesday, July 9th, during the session titled “Progress, Gaps, and Obstacles: Are we on track for leaving no one behind?” held in Conference Room 4 from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Click here for the full official programme.

7. Participate! VNR Labs
A series of 17 VNR Labs will take place during HLPF. VNR Labs serve as an informal platform to share best practices and to reflect on experiences thus far in the VNR process, focusing on cross-cutting themes and country experiences. VNR Labs are open to Member States, the UN system and representatives of civil society. To see the full list of VNR Labs offered during the HLPF, kindly refer to the annotated agenda found here.

8. Participate! Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities Learning, Training and Practice Session
The Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities is co-facilitating a practical course that will be organized during the upcoming 2019 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

The course is titled “Participatory and Inclusive Tools to build capacities in Leaving No One Behind”. We are presenting along with ATD Fourth World, Oxford University, Institute of Development Studies, International Civil Society Centre, CIVICUS, and Action4SustainableDevelopment. Dr. Elizabeth Lockwood, CBM, and Maegan Shanks, Gallaudet University, will facilitate the section led by the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities. This course will introduce global deaf cultures, basic phrases in International Sign, and how to interact with deaf and hard of hearing people in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals and to ensure no one is left behind. The course will teach strategies on how to include deaf and hard of hearing people in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, particularly how to be inclusive in dialogues and consultations. This event will take place on Thursday, July 11th from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM in Conference Room 5 at the United Nations Headquarters. 

9. Participate! SGPwD Exhibition Space at HLPF!
The Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities has secured a joint exhibition space with the Education and Academia Stakeholder Group, Stakeholder Group on Ageing, Indigenous Peoples Major Group, International Council for Adult Education, Global Campaign for Education, Asia Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education and DVV International. 

The title of the exhibition space is “The right to education: for everyone, everywhere, at any time”. It will focus on the role played by education as the most sustainable, long-term driver of social, economic and environmental justice and for building capacities and sensitivity, as well as fostering transformation, empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality. The exhibition will show the diversity of learning and education of different groups and how it contributes to the quality of life.

The exhibition space will be located in the General Assembly 1B Corridor from July 9th to July 18th. There will be a table for dissemination material and 2-3 panels to pin photographs on. If you have any materials which you would like to showcase at this exhibition space, kindly email HLPF2019 [at] ida-secretariat.org.

10. Information! UN funded participants selected
The HLPF Secretariat of the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities launched an application process to identify UN funded participants for the July 2019 HLPF. Three people were put forward to the UN to be considered to receive the funding and the UN undertook the final decision as to who was chosen to receive the funding. 

We are pleased to announce that Mr. Davud Rehimli from Azerbaijan was selected to be funded by the UN to attend the HLPF. 

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Category: HLPF