Ahead of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, calling for peace at a time when the human rights of persons with disabilities and all civilians are in peril, UN experts issued a statement in support of many people especially those with disabilities who have lost their lives to armed conflict.
“This year, we remember that persons with disabilities are the most and first to be harmed in armed conflicts. Armed conflicts have particularly severe and long-lasting effects on people with disabilities as they result in the destruction of critical infrastructure, support services and networks”, they stated. They added: “This year we raise the slogan United in action to rescue and achieve the SDGs for, with and by persons with disabilities. Seventy-five years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, armed conflicts remain one of the biggest obstacles to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals. Hence, the importance of Goal 16 to promote peaceful and inclusive societies is clear. This also means that we must include the rights and needs of persons with disabilities in post-conflict reconstruction”. The reiterated: “People with disabilities must have equal opportunities to benefit from Sustainable Development Goals. So far, sustainable development plans have not succeeded in fully including persons with disabilities and they are still “left behind”. Joint work and meaningful participation of persons with disabilities is necessary to ensure the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda effectively addresses concerns of persons with disabilities”. They also emphasized on the fact that persons with disabilities and their rights must also be included in discussions reviewing the progress made in implementing the Sustainable Development Agenda.