THE SECRETARY GENERAL – Message for International Day of People with Disabilities New York, December 3, 2021 – United Nations

The realization of the rights, self-determined action and leadership responsibility of people with disabilities will move us forward together.

If we are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we need to get everyone, including those with disabilities, on board. All over the world, people with disabilities and the organizations that represent them are actively committed to ensuring that the demand “Not without us about us” becomes a reality.

The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly shown that the one billion people with disabilities worldwide, some of the hardest hit by the pandemic, still face barriers and inequality.

Combating and overcoming the pandemic in a disability-inclusive way, which should be steered by people with disabilities themselves, includes building partnerships, combating injustice and discrimination, expanding access to technology and strengthening institutions with the aim of creating a more inclusive, To create a more accessible and sustainable world for the time after the pandemic.

I urge all countries to fully implement the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to increase accessibility and to remove legal, social, economic and other barriers with the active participation of people with disabilities and their representative organizations.

On this International Day of People with Disabilities, let us commit ourselves to creating a sustainable, inclusive and just future for all people and leaving no one behind.

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