14 June 2013: The UN Secretary-General’s report on disability in the post-2015 development agenda recommends mainstreaming disability as a development issue, and integrating accessibility as a central consideration in the emerging post-2015 development agenda.

The report, titled ‘The Way Forward: A disability-inclusive agenda towards 2015 and beyond’ (A/68/95), reviews good practices and proposes steps for integrating disability considerations in all development efforts. The report was issued in preparation for the upcoming UN General Assembly (UNGA) High-Level Meeting on the Realization of the MDGs and Other Development Goals for Persons with Disabilities (HLMDD), and describes the efforts of Member States and the UN system to address issues of inclusion and accessibility.

The report compares current approaches to disability inclusion with earlier efforts to address gender. These gender efforts began, it recalls, with programmes that treated women as beneficiaries, and progressed towards the mainstreaming of gender in development, based on an understanding of the actual and potential contributions of women to society.

The report recommends, inter alia: promoting understanding of disability as an essential element of inclusive and sustainable development; publishing a regular UN global report on disability and development to benchmark progress; and monitoring and evaluating disability indicators in relation to goals and targets in the post-2015 development framework.

It proposes that the UNGA consider integrating accessibility as a central consideration in the emerging post-2015 development agenda. Actions could include: establishing or strengthening national focal points and coordination mechanisms that will include persons with disabilities in monitoring and evaluating progress; adopting a UN system-wide action plan on disability mainstreaming; and promoting multi-stakeholder partnerships to follow-up outcomes of the HLMDD.

Libran N. Cabactulan, Permanent Representative of the Philippines, and Fernando Arias Gonzalez, Permanent Representative of Spain, are leading consultations for the draft outcome document of the HLMDD, working with the UN Department of Social and Economic Affairs (DESA). DESA houses the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (SCRPD) and disseminates information through the Secretariat’s website, UN Enable. [ The Way Forward: A Disability-Inclusive Development Agenda Towards 2015 and Beyond (A/68/95)] [UNGA Webpage on HLMDD] [UN Enable Webpage on HLMDD] [Letter convening consultations]