Welcome to the United Nations
In Quito, Ecuador this year the New Urban Agenda included persons with disabilities with a focus on making cities accessible to all, for the first time. With 41 million persons with disabilities expected to be living in cities by 2030 it is an issue demanding urgency now.
On the 2nd of December a round table was hosted at United Nations Headquarters involving panellists from around the world. The conversation focused on initiatives to increase accessibility of cities to all persons. The event was part of official celebrations for the International Day for Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) which is held on the 3rd of December each year.
Amya Miller, Principal Consult for the City of Rikuzentakata, Japan explained the city was badly damaged during the tsunami in 2011 and is struggling to maintain population with only 20,000 residents. Ms Miller explained how they were encouraging people to the area by increasing the city’s accessibility for minority groups. She invited people who feel marginalised within their own communities to move to the town with a promise of welcome and accommodation.
A representative from the New York City (NYC) mayor’s office Jorge Fanjul, Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives presented NYC’s annual report – Accessible NYC. He explained how the report challenges the administration to do better to ensure New York City is accessible to everyone, despite ability.
A personal story was heard from the Head of Disability Inclusion from JP Morgan who became a C5, C6 quadriplegic following a surfing accident. He told the room “I thought life was over, but boy was I wrong.” In his current role his mission is to hire people with disabilities and focus on “accessibility, accommodation, attitude and assimilation”, within the work place.
Following the round table an evening event was held in the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) chamber. The event hosted an array of impressive guests and performers.
Event highlights included a performance by the Korean Special Olympics Ensemble. All members except one had an intellectual or developmental disability. The group demonstrated that a diagnosis could not prevent a person from following their passion and achieving excellency in their field.
The evening also included a skit from Off Broadway theatre group Breaking Through Barriers. The performance sent a message of ensuring cities were accessible to all abilities and included key messages in line with the United Nations New Urban Agenda. Almost all members of the performance had a disability.
Midori, UN Messenger for Peace and Violinist played a beautiful piece and shared with the audience a story of her nieces and nephews experiences with disabilities and why the IDPD was important to her.
Stevie Wonder built upon his delivery from the morning via a recorded message urging everyone to embrace persons with disabilities and supported the concept of the event to ensure cities can be accessed by all.
The Accessible Cities events were hosted by the Division for Social Policy and Development (DSPD) with the support of Member States and the NYC Mayors Office for People with Disabilities. Daniela Bas, Director of DSPD addressed the audience alongside colleague and dear friend Victor Calise, Commissioner of the NYC Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities. The pair spoke about the importance of accessible urban development from a professional and personal perspective, both experiencing the challenges of living in an urban environment with a physical disability.