På den internationale dag for personer med handicap, mandag, påpegede generalsekretær i FN, Ban Ki-moon, at næste års møde om handicap og udvikling i FNs generalforsamling handler om at “anspore en indsats for at bygge bro mellem velmenende forpligtigelser og længe udsatte handlinger.”
NEW YORK, 3 December 2012 (UN News Centre): Highlighting the need to guarantee disabled people equal access to services and opportunities worldwide, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for a new global push aimed at “creating societies that value diversity and inclusion.”
International Day marks the official launch of preparations for the High-Level Meeting, which will take place in September at UN Headquarters in New York, and build on development targets world governments are setting to succeed the anti-poverty agenda enshrined (stadfæstet) in the 2000-2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
“This gathering will take place as the international community works to forge a post-2015 development agenda, presenting an opportunity to ensure that the rights, concerns and contributions of persons with disabilities are fully taken into account,” Mr. Ban said.
Mere end én milliard lever med handicap
More than one billion people – about 15 per cent of the world’s population – live with some form of disability. The UN has promoted an International Day on behalf of the disabled since 1992, when the General Assembly recognized the International Day of Disabled Persons, changing its name to the present one in 2007.
It was also in 2007 that the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities opened for signature. Entering into force in 2008, the Convention recognizes the barriers disabled people face are a central component of their respective disabilities and, because of that, it says that disabled people have fundamental rights to both accessibility and inclusion.
As of last month, 126 countries, representing two-thirds of UN Member States, had ratified the Convention.
“This year’s Paralympic Games were a reminder of the immense potential of persons with disabilities to soar and to inspire,” Mr. Ban noted, citing the international multi-sport competition that took place in London this year, and which coincide with the Olympic Games every four years.
