RI Global: Office of Communications
Contact: Adrian Brune, +1 347-759-9501
Since 1992, the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) has been celebrated annually on 3 December around the world. The theme for this year’s International Day was “Achieving 17 Goals for the Future We Want”, which notes the role of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in building a more inclusive and equitable world for persons with disabilities.
The observance of the 2016 IDPD coincided with the 10-year anniversary of the adoption of the CRPD – one of the most quickly and widely ratified international treaties put forth by the United Nations. The CRPD has been credited with marking a transition of the situation of PwDs from a charity or medical issue to a human rights issue. Now, DPOs and NGOs must translate the CRPD into actable laws and policies, and make the connection between human rights and development issues, many speakers testified.
The following are images of PwDs celebrating their rights and advocating at the UN this year.
The Heidi Lasky Dance Company put on a “living gallery” of people in different poses to celebrate the differently abled. Photo: RI Global.
Attendants of the High-level meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the CRPD. Photo: UN
Attendants of the High-level meeting of the General Assembly on the CRPD celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Photo: UN
RI Global Secretary-General Venus Ilagan testifies at the High-level meeting of the General Assembly on the Int’l Day of Persons with Disabilities. Photo: RI Global
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon greets attendants of the High-level meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the CRPD. Photo: UN
Stevie Wonder sits on the panel of High-level meeting. “We have seen that when empowered and enabled, persons with disabilities or persons who are differently abled have so much to contribute to society, I am just one example and yet I beat the odds. Imagine if persons like me were given the same opportunities, how much better the world would be.” Photo: UN
The CRPD is a solid reminder that persons with disabilities are not objects of charity, but full and equal members of society. Let us not be handicapped again. To do so, this world needs to get over its attitude about disabilities and find ways to accomplish what is right and just for all. — Stevie Wonder. Photo: RI Global
RI Global: Founded in 1922, Rehabilitation International (RI Global) is a worldwide network promoting the rights and inclusions of persons with disabilities (PwDs) through advocacy, habilitation and rehabilitation to achieve an inclusive world in which all people can enjoy full human rights.
Join us at the 2016 RI Global World Congress: riworldcongress.com
