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Sent: December 02, 2011 12:10
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Subject: BAN CALLS ON COUNTRIES TO WORK FOR INCLUSION OF PERSONS WITH
DISABILITIES INTO SOCIETY

BAN CALLS ON COUNTRIES TO WORK FOR INCLUSION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
INTO SOCIETY New York, Dec  2 2011 12:10PM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
called for governments, civil society and the global community to work
alongside persons with disabilities, saying their participation is essential
to achieve inclusive and sustainable development worldwide.

In his message marking the
<"http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=1561">International Day for
Persons with Disabilities, Mr. Ban said that although there has been
significant progress in raising awareness of the rights of persons with
disabilities and many countries have committed to protect their rights
through international agreements, they still experience unequal conditions.

"Persons with disabilities experience higher rates of poverty and
deprivation and are twice as likely to lack health care," Mr. Ban
<"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/sgsm13983.doc.htm">said.
"Employment rates of persons with disabilities in some countries are as low
as one third of that of the overall population."

An estimated 15 per cent of the world's population has a disability and over
two thirds of persons with disabilities live in developing countries, where
the gap in primary school attendance rates between children with
disabilities and others ranges from 10 per cent to 60 per cent.

"This multi-dimensional exclusion represents a huge cost, not only to
persons with disabilities but to society as a whole. This year's
International Day of Persons with Disabilities reminds us that development
can only be sustainable when it is equitable, inclusive and accessible for
all," Mr. Ban said.

"Persons with disabilities need therefore be included at all stages of
development processes, from inception to monitoring and evaluation," he
added.

Echoing Mr. Ban's remarks, General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz
Al-Nasser
<"http://www.un.org/en/ga/president/66/statements/disabilities021211.shtml">
said development cannot be inclusive without implementing policies and
programmes to help persons with disabilities.

"As we work towards the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20)
and as the agreed date for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
approaches, let us seize all opportunities to ensure the inclusion of
disability in the development agenda post-2015," he said.

Mr. Al-Nasser stressed that States already have the tools to make progress
on this issue and urged countries which have not done so to sign the UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

"Worldwide, the link between disability, poverty and social exclusion is
clear and direct. Yet we have at our finger tips international human rights
instruments that protect and promote the rights of persons with
disabilities," Mr. Al-Nasser said in his message for the day, celebrated
tomorrow.

"It is only if the convention is implemented at the national level that it
can have any positive impact on the lives of persons with disabilities," he
added.

The convention, which came into force in 2008, aims to promote, protect and
ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and fundamental freedoms
by persons with disabilities. It has been signed by 153 States and ratified
by 107. 

"The vast majority of UN Member States have recognized the importance of
respecting the rights of men, women and children with disabilities to the
same quality of life as others,"
<"http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=11673&Lan
gID=E">said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.  "They must
now urgently set about making the promise of the convention a reality,
including by ensuring that individuals with disabilities are not
disenfranchised." 

Ms. Pillay also stressed that countries need to remove obstacles that
prevent persons with disabilities from exercising their political rights,
saying that they are "often prevented from exercising this right because of
discriminatory laws, the lack of accessible voting booths or because
electoral material and information is not available in accessible formats
such as sign language and Braille.

"Such obstacles prevent the exercise of one of the most fundamental human
rights - to have a say in one's own government," she said.

As part of the celebrations for the Day, a series of events have been
organized at UN Headquarters in New York today, including panel discussions
on strengthening the data and statistics on disability for informed
policy-making and integrating disability issues into global development
reports. In the afternoon, the Enable Film Festival (EFF) will showcase
films and documentaries on persons with disabilities from around the world. 

The annual observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities
on 3 December was established in 1981 during the International Year for
Disabled Persons. The Day aims to promote a better understanding of
disability issues with a focus on the rights of people with disabilities and
the gains that could be derived from integrating them better in every aspect
of the political, social, economic and cultural life of their communities.
Dec  2 2011 12:10PM
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