International day of persons with disabilities: UN calls for inclusion in post-Covid times, dismantling barriers

The day is celebrated every year on December 3 to mark the challenges, barriers and opportunities of those with disabilities and also as an occasion to direct the efforts of the global community towards a more inclusive society.

As the world marked the international day of persons with disabilities, the United Nations called for an enhanced push towards a more inclusive society and efforts to reduce the barriers faced by people with disabilities.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that over a billion people experience disability across the world and warned that the figure is only expected to rise. (Shutterstock | Representational Image)

The day is celebrated every year on December 3 to mark the challenges, barriers and opportunities of those with disabilities and also as an occasion to direct the efforts of the global community towards a more inclusive society. “This year, we are celebrating the challenges, barriers and opportunities for people who live with disabilities, in the context of a global pandemic,” the UN said. The global body’s proclamation to mark the day was first declared in 1992.

“This year, International Day of People with Disabilities should be used to recognise that people who live with disabilities are among the most affected populations amid the COVID pandemic,” the UN also said.

Further, it also called for domestic and international public health officials, political representatives, advocates, supporters and citizens to learn from the experiences of those with disabilities during the Covid-19 pandemic and “push for more meaningful investments into the socioeconomic building blocks which will reduce the barriers faced by people with disabilities in every community on earth.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that over a billion people experience disability across the world and warned that the figure is only expected to rise. “ Despite this, few countries have adequate mechanisms in place to respond fully to the health priorities and requirements of persons with disabilities,” the global health body said.

Calling disability a “global public health issue”, the WHO also said that one in seven people worldwide is affected by it and that every person is likely to experience it at some point in their life.

In his message on the day, secretary-general Antonio Guterres said, “A disability-inclusive pandemic response and recovery should be guided by persons with disabilities themselves, forge partnerships, tackle injustice and discrimination, expand access to technology and strengthen institutions to create a more inclusive, accessible, and sustainable post-Covid-19 world.”

Meanwhile, President Ram Nath Kovind will confer the annual National Awards on individuals, institutions, organizations and state/district, etc., for their outstanding achievements and work towards the empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, the ministry of social justice and empowerment said, in an event organised by the ministry.

“On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, let us commit to destigmatizing disabilities and ensure that our Divyang brothers and sisters get equal opportunities so that they can lead a dignified, safe and productive life,” Vice President Venkaiah Naidu tweeted.