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December 01, 2008
UN Secretary-General's message on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities observed 3 December
SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN MESSAGE FOR INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PERSONS WITH
DISABILITIES,SAYS MUCH TO CELEBRATE WITH ENTRY INTO FORCE OF RIGHTS CONVENTION
Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message on the
International Day of Persons with Disabilities, observed 3 December:
This year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities falls just a
week before the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. The United Nations is commemorating both under the theme, “Dignity
and justice for all of us”.
We have much to celebrate this year. The entry into force of the Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in May was a turning point. When
the first Conference of the Parties convened in October, participants
immediately began considering how the Convention can serve as a tool to
achieve the Millennium Development Goals. This progress has been made
possible thanks to the active participation and leadership of persons with
disabilities, by ensuring that they have access to -- and are included in --
all aspects of our work.
The United Nations remains committed to this approach. The renovation of
our Headquarters complex through the Capital Master Plan will bring our
facilities up to the latest standards of accessibility. These advances are
long overdue.
The General Assembly has stressed that, to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals, we must include persons with disabilities in all
processes. With 80 per cent of persons with disabilities -- more than 400
million people -- living in poor countries, we need to do much more to break
the cycle of poverty and disability.
The slogan of the International Disability Alliance is: “Nothing about us
without us.” A disabled person from Swaziland, who has been fighting for
the implementation of a disability policy there, has said: “We need total
integration to do away with the evil of stigmatization.”
In that same spirit, I urge Governments and all stakeholders to ensure that
persons with disabilities and their organizations are an integral part of
all development processes. In this way, we can promote integration and pave
the way for a better future for all people in society.
Posted by jicafriends at December 1, 2008 06:48 PM