Re-thinking Disability Inclusion for the SDGs

Persons with disabilities have been disproportionately affected by the events of recent years, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: UNDP HondurasBy Ulrika Modéer and Jose VieraNEW YORK, Jul 10 2023 (IPS) This year marks halfway towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), an ambitious agenda which set out to transform our world. We have always known that the goals cannot be realized without the inclusion of persons with disabilities. From poverty to inequality, climate to health the promise to leave no-one behind is the bedrock of the SDG call to action. Unfortunately, the midway indicators should give us all cause for concern. The UN Secretary-General recently announced that progress on 50 percent is weak and insufficient and we have stalled or gone into reverse on more than 30 percent of the goals. And what can this lack of SDG progress tell us about disability inclusion? Worryingly, very little. While the SDGs include persons with disabilities, this does not fully extend into the monitoring. Only seven out of 169 targets specifically address disability inclusion and only 10 of their 231 indicators explicitly require disability data disaggregation. However even without specific SDG data, the extent of progress must be called into question when we see that, in 2023, the 1.3 billion people worldwide who experience significant disability, still face a range of barriers to inclusion. While specific actions to progress disability inclusion undoubtedly need reinvigor...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: COVID-19 Development & Aid Featured Global Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies Sustainable Development Goals TerraViva United Nations IPS UN Bureau Source Type: news