At the recently concluded UN Civil Society Conference in Nairobi on May 9-10, 2024, a new multi-stakeholder mechanism for civil society engagement called ImPACT Coalition was launched. At the UNCSC, a few preliminary ImPACT Coalitions were selected to organize ‘exhibits’ and present their action plan linked to the Summit of the Future to be organized in September this year; and provide key recommendations to the Pact for the Future, which is the outcome document to be adopted by Member States at the Summit. Unfortunately, there is no ImPACT Coalition focusing on disability inclusion despite efforts made by the International Disability Alliance, the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities and the International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC).
As alliances representing Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) and disability organizations from across the globe, including the global South, these three organizations have jointly written to Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations expressing profound concerns regarding the lack of clarity in the roles and sustainability of the ImPACT Coalitions, coupled with their insufficient integration into the broader UN agenda, risks marginalizing essential stakeholders. A particularly glaring issue is the absence of a clear framework that articulates the specific role of the representative voice of 1.3 billion persons with disabilities. This omission not only challenges the credibility and legitimacy of the Summit of the Future but also perpetuates patterns of exclusion—patterns we had hoped were relics of the past.
The letter emphasized the critical importance of the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which mandate active involvement and participation of persons with disabilities through their representative organizations in decision-making processes for UN entities and Member States respectively.
Read the letter here.
Read about our work on the Summit of the Future here.