Panel Discussion organized by the President of the UN General Assembly

Date: Mon, Jun 13 2016 | Panel Discussions
Location: New York, USA
Time: 3:00 - 6:00pm
Panel Discussion organized by the President of the UN General Assembly

Follow up on the status of and progress made towards the realization of the development goals for persons with disabilities in relation to the follow-up to the outcome of the high-level meeting on disability and development and to the principles of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, (13 June 2016, 3.00 – 6.00 p.m., Conference Room 4, UN Headquarters)

Background

The commitment of the international community to promote the full and effective participation of persons with disabilities in society and development is deeply rooted in the UN Charter, and other international norms and standards relating to human rights and development. The global normative framework to advance the rights of persons with disabilities in development has been strengthened significantly over the past three decades with the adoption by the General Assembly of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2006, and its call for the global development framework to be inclusive of persons with disabilities.

In this context, the High-level Meeting on Disability and Development (HLMDD) was convened in September 2013, under the theme “The way forward: a disability-inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond” to provide further guidance and to strengthen efforts of the international community to ensure accessibility for and inclusion of persons with disabilities in all aspects of development. Based on this commitment, a number of achievements have since been made to include persons with disabilities in global development frameworks.

In September 2015, the General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that includes 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs). The Agenda explicitly references persons with disabilities and includes a number of targets for persons with disabilities, including in the areas of education, growth and employment, inequality, accessibility of human settlements, as well as data collection and monitoring of the implementation of the SDGs. Disability is a crosscutting issue to be addressed across all development goals.  The 2030 Agenda reflects the commitment of the international community to promote the full and effective participation of persons with disabilities in all aspects of society and development.

Panel Discussion:

In relation to the outcome of the high-level meeting on disability and development, and to the realization of the rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the President of the United Nations General Assembly, as requested by the Assembly resolution 69/142, will organise a panel discussion to follow up on the status of and progress made towards the realization of the development goals for persons with disabilities. Toward this end the panel discussion would work to:

  • Review existing institutional frameworks to mainstream disability and advance the rights, perspectives and well-being of persons with disabilities in development efforts at national and local levels.
  • Discuss the way forward in terms of operationalization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development from a disability perspective.
  • Facilitate open discussion and the sharing of experiences and recommendations for a way forward to advance the rights of persons with disabilities in development and society.

Speakers (TBC)

Government

UN system

Civil society

Other

Resources