On 12 December 2012, the United Nations General Assembly endorsed a resolution urging countries to accelerate progress toward universal health coverage (UHC) – the idea that everyone, everywhere should have access to quality, affordable health care - as an essential priority for international development. On 12 December 2017, the United Nations proclaimed 12 December as International Universal Health Coverage Day (UHC Day) by resolution 72/138.

Every year, the Indigenous Peoples in Development Branch within the Division of Inclusive Social Development of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs organizes an international expert group meeting (EGM) on a theme recommended by the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and endorsed by the Economic and Social Council. In 2019, the expert group meeting will be held on the theme “Conservation and the rights of indigenous peoples” as recommended by the Permanent Forum at its 2018 annual session.

The Third Committee of the UN General Assembly at its 73rd session adopted a new resolution on the “Rights of indigenous peoples”. The resolution reaffirmed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which addresses the individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples.

Please send information on major international disability events, for possible inclusion in the list to enable@un.org

Vacancies to be filled from January 2020 to December 2022

The current membership of the Permanent Forum is due to expire at the end of 2019.

Nominations are now requested for the three-year period from January 2020 until December 2022. Current members who have served the maximum of two terms (six years) as Permanent Forum members cannot be nominated for a further term.

There has been much progress in improving the availability, quality and comparability of income and wealth inequality data. Several cross-national databases containing summary inequality statistics are now available.

According to the World Bank, today’s urban population of about 3.5 billion people is projected to reach 5 billion by 2030, with two-thirds of the global population living in cities. City leaders must move quickly to plan for growth. The speed and scale of urbanization brings challenges for all family members such as children, parents, youth, persons with disabilities and older persons.

Since 1992, the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) has been annually observed on 3 December around the world. The theme for this year’s IDPD is “Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality”. This theme focuses on the empowering persons with disabilities for the inclusive, equitable and sustainable development envisaged in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

As we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this year, it is important to recall the important connection between inclusive development and human rights, and that people living in poverty are affected by many human rights violations.