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There was a meeting about world problems and solutions in New York.
New York is a big city in the United States of America. The United Nations is a big organization that unites almost all countries in the world to meet each other and try to solve problems together. Experts are people who know a lot about a certain topic. The experts said that there are many people in the world who have a disability. The experts also said that people with disabilities are at risk of not getting enough food because many of them are poor. Older people with a disability also face the risk of being excluded from society and basic needs. This is why the rights for person with a disability should be included within The Sustainable Development Goals. Countries and organizations will work together on several issues in order to improve the lives of many people. |
United Nations (UN) human rights experts have urged all UN Member States to guarantee the rights of people with disabilities by including them within the new development framework, namely the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
During the Second Session of the International Negotiations on the Post-2015 Development Agenda this week in New York, the experts have emphasized that one billion people – 15 percent of the world’s population – are persons with disabilities, and that their rights cannot be ignored.
The SDG’s serve as replacement and expansion of the previous Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and they will have a major influence on policies and agendas for the next 15 years to come.
In July 2015, Third International Conference on Financing for Development will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Catalina Devandas Aguilar, the new UN special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, stated that the commitment to include persons with disabilities in the SDGs must be reflected in the Conference’s Outcome Document, since inclusion is fundamental when striving for sustainable development that is genuinely rights-based.
According to Aguilar, the current situation is encouraging: “Whereas people with disabilities were invisible within the MDGs, we have seen promising advances in ensuring that the new development framework is sustainable, inclusive and accessible,” she said. Aguilar noted that “as we enter the critical final stages of negotiations on the new SDGs, it is imperative that we maintain the important achievements already attained and that the global community fulfils its promise to guarantee human rights and development for all on an equal basis, including for persons with disabilities”.
Food Security
A major concern for many people with disabilities is the availability of sufficient food supplies. Worldwide, about 805 million people suffer from chronicle undernourishment.
Given the fact that many persons with disabilities live in absolute poverty, food security is a key issue. “We know that nutrition and disability are closely linked. Both children and adults are often discriminated against, due to social stigma and negative cultural norms,” the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Hilal Elver, said.
“Food must be physically and economically accessible,” Elver added. “To achieve this, States must ensure that a disability perspective is taken fully into account in nutrition policy and programming, maternal and child health policy, and broader health initiatives.”
Elderly
The new UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, Rosa Kornfeld-Matte, called on the Member States to pay particular attention to the plight of older persons with disabilities during the current negotiations. “Although disability should not be associated with ageing, it is frequent in old age and thus requires resources to ensure access to different services, including education, healthcare and social protection and poverty reduction programmes,” she indicated.
Kornfeld-Matte furthermore emphasized that the new development framework should incorporate an age-sensitive approach in order to guarantee older persons enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms they are entitled to.
The three experts unanimously agreed that ‘the scope of the post-2105 development goals and the Financing for Development Outcome Document provides a unique opportunity to ensure persons with disabilities are not just more visible, but are also active participants in the global agenda’. They added that it is a chance that should not be missed.
For more information about the Sustainable Development Goals, click here
For more information about persons with a disability, click here
For more information about the right to food, click here
For more information about the rights of the elderly, click here
