INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY ALLIANCE (IDA)
Member Organisations:
Arab Organization of Persons with Disabilities, Disabled People’s International,
Down Syndrome International, European Disability Forum,
Inclusion International, International Federation of Hard of Hearing People,
Latin American Network of Non-Governmental Organizations of Persons with Disabilities
and their Families, Pacific Disability Forum,
World Blind Union, World Federation of the Deaf,
World Federation of the DeafBlind,
World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry
PRESS RELEASE
International Day of Persons with Disabilities
A Post-2015 Development Framework Inclusive of Persons with Disabilities
New York, 3 December 2013 – On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2013, the International Disability Alliance (IDA) calls on the United Nations, Member States, civil society organisations and other relevant stakeholders to ensure the full and effective inclusion of persons with disabilities in the post-2015 development framework.
There are an estimated one billion persons with disabilities worldwide. With more than 80% of this number living in developing countries, persons with disabilities and their families are overrepresented among those living in absolute poverty. Despite this, persons with disabilities were excluded from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) developed and agreed upon in 2000 by all Member States of the United Nations (UN), which sought to improve the situation of the world’s most vulnerable populations.
The UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) clearly states that persons with disabilities have the right to full and effective enjoyment of all human rights. The Convention is both a human rights and development tool which provides a blueprint for the international community to include persons with disabilities in development agenda.
Since the development of the MDGs, there has been significant progress at the international level in recognising and proactively addressing the exclusion faced by persons with disabilities. While this is a positive step forward, broader and deeper commitments to persons with disabilities in the new post-2015 development framework must be made.
The theme of this year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities, “Break Barriers, Open Doors: for an inclusive society and development for all” highlights the importance of inclusion in the post-2015 development framework. The Open Working Group (OWG) for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been mandated to prepare a set of goals for consideration by the United Nations General Assembly at its 68th session (September 2013 – September 2014). IDA, together with other stakeholders is currently working to ensure that the SDGs explicitly address the rights and needs of persons with disabilities and play a key role in addressing the discrimination and exclusion faced by persons with disabilities worldwide.
"The new post-2015 sustainable development framework must be inclusive and accessible, and promote the rights of persons with disabilities,” said Mr. Yannis Vardakastanis, chair of IDA. “It must ensure the full and effective participation of organisations of persons with disabilities at every stage of the process. In order to be effective, any framework or action plan in relation to sustainable development must be inclusive of persons with disabilities".
The International Disability Alliance (IDA) is a network of eight global and four regional organisations of persons with disabilities and their families (DPOs), representing the estimated one billion persons with disabilities worldwide. Founded in 1999, IDA’s unique composition as a network of international disability rights organisations allows it to act as an authoritative and representative voice of persons with disabilities in the United Nations (UN) system, both in New York and Geneva.
Geneva Office: 150 route de Ferney, PO Box 2100, CH 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
New York Office: 245 Park Avenue, 39th Floor, New York, NY 10167, United States
Contact email: Vladimir Cuk at vcuk [at] ida-secretariat.org
IDA Website: http://www.internationaldisabilityalliance.org/en
