“Inclusiveness means that all people can participate as partners, rights-holders and full citizens, not as subjects or mere beneficiaries. Relevant international instruments often exist, such as the Convention on the Rights of Peoples with Disabilities, but are not always respected.”
-HLPF Official Summary, H.E. Oh Joon, President of ECOSOC and HLPF
Brief summary
The HLPF 2016 was attended by 22 representatives of the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities consisting of 12 persons with disabilities and 10 advocates. An official position paper by the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities titled “Ensuring that no one was left behind” was submitted to the HLPF and endorsed by over 370 organizations.
Two representatives from the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities were invited to be official presenters at the HLPF. Representatives of the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities gave 17 interventions during the official sessions of the HLPF.
Out of the 22 Voluntary National Reviews, 17 submissions[1] and 8 oral presentations[2] of Member States explicitly elaborated on the situation of persons with disabilities in their national context.
The Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities co-organized and hosted six side events. Representatives from the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities presented at 10 HLPF side events.
[1] At the time of the report in September 12th 2016, 19 out of the 22 volunteering countries had submitted both short and long reports. Out of the 19 countries with full reports, the following 17 referenced persons with disabilities directly: Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Madagascar, Mexico, Montenegro, Norway, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Switzerland, Togo, Turkey, Uganda and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
[2] Egypt, Finland, France, Madagascar, Morocco, Norway, Sierra Leone, and Samoa