By Elizabeth Lockwood, on behalf of the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities for Sustainable Development

There are an estimated 1.3 billion persons with disabilities in the world, yet this group continues to be left behind. Undoubtedly there was progress with civil society participation, including organizations of persons with disabilities and allies, leading to and with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Yet, as we begin discussions on the Pact for the Future, the inclusion and recognition of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations have dwindled.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted with 11 explicit references to persons with disabilities and 18 inexplicit references (when paragraph 23 is referenced throughout the Agenda). This inclusion was in sharp contrast to the predecessor, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in which persons with disabilities were completely excluded. In recent years, this momentous shift has provided significant space and expansion for the participation, leadership, and recognition of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations as active contributing members of society and has placed the rights of persons with disabilities as a central issue in development. Yet, today there is regression with systemic exclusion of persons with disabilities. This is evident with the zero draft of the Pact of the Future having absolutely no references to persons with disabilities.

Moreover, participants with disabilities have encountered various accessibility barriers in virtual consultations in the ever-shrinking spaces in which civil society can participate, further leaving persons with disabilities behind. When persons with disabilities must continually fight for basic accessibility, this takes away from the time they can spend advocating for their rights. For example, the Webex platform used by the UN continues to be inaccessible for screen reader users, persons with intellectual disabilities, and others with disabilities. Using functions, such as turning on a camera and turning on/off mute, creates additional barriers for many participants with disabilities. Additionally, the lack of sign language interpretation and live captions excludes deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing participants. Regarding the completion of time-sensitive forms, some persons with disabilities may encounter barriers accessing the forms and some may need assistance. As a result, there can be delays, putting some persons with disabilities at a disadvantage.

Unless the systemic exclusion of persons with disabilities is explicitly acknowledged and addressed, the inherent ubiquitous biases in our development and humanitarian systems will not only exclude persons with disabilities but create additional barriers. This is also true for other marginalized and underrepresented groups. In fact, inclusive development is more effective and can benefit all.

We propose the following recommendations to ensure inclusion of persons with disabilities in the Summit of the Future processes and beyond.

There must be authentic representation of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in all Our Common Agenda and post-2030 processes, and, at the same time, ensure more participation in decision-making processes. By continuing to build on the 2030 Agenda’s principle of leave no one behind and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, we can ensure that different communities around the world, including organizations of persons with disabilities, have meaningful and continual representation at the local, national, regional, and global levels.

Additionally, we need available, high-quality, timely, and reliable data on marginalized groups, including persons with disabilities. We also need the recognition of citizen-generated data, including data efforts led by organizations of persons with disabilities, to complement official statistics to address data gaps and to measure progress. Without data, the situation of persons with disabilities remains unknown and thus cannot be adequately addressed in programs and policies. Moreover, this leads to gaps in measuring impacts, risk factors, changes, and trends of persons with disabilities over time, and this is exacerbated during natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies.

We must have pre-conditions systematically in place, such as accessibility for all persons with disabilities and recognition from all partners that organizations of persons with disabilities must be the driving and leading force to make change. This is for both disability-focused programs and policies, and mainstream ones.

We must address the growing digital divide that disproportionately affects the most marginalized groups, including persons with disabilities. In fact, approximately 80% of all persons with disabilities live in the global South and around 90% lack sufficient access to assistive technologies. Barriers in accessing digital technology include lack of accessibility of devices, including regular mobile internet use, lack of access to fast internet connection for up-to-date information, and lack of financial means to be able to purchase data packages to access vital information. The zero draft of the Global Digital Compact includes two references to persons with disabilities from which we can strengthen, build upon, and encourage governments to adopt international standards on digital accessibility and inclusion.

Let’s keep the momentum going to ensure that truly no one is left behind – again.