Inclusive society for sustainable future

Ranjan K Baruah *

International Day of Persons with Disabilities at Ideal Blind School, Takyel on December 03 2016 :: Pix - TSE

Out of 7 billion people around the world, over 1 billion people have some form of disability, that's 1 in 7. There are more than 100 million disabled persons are children and children with disabilities are almost four times more likely to experience violence than non-disabled children.

It is interesting to know that 80% of all people with disabilities live in a developing country and 50% of disabled persons cannot afford health care. So far 153 countries signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

These facts tells us how important is to take up the issue and work for solution. I have been discussing an issue which is related to disability in all my youth programmes. Whenever I talk of education as career then I mention about special education and its importance. We must make a society inclusive of all where every human being could get their rights.

A disability is a condition or function judged to be significantly impaired relative to the usual standard of an individual of their group. The term is often used to refer to individual functioning, including physical impairment, sensory impairment, cognitive impairment, intellectual impairment, mental illness, and various types of chronic disease. This usage has been described by some disabled people as being associated with a medical model of disability.

Persons with disabilities, "the world's largest minority", have generally poorer health, lower education achievements, fewer economic opportunities and higher rates of poverty than people without disabilities.

This is largely due to the lack of services available to them (like information and communications technology (ICT), justice or transportation) and the many obstacles they face in their everyday lives. These obstacles can take a variety of forms, including those relating to the physical environment, or those resulting from legislation or policy, or from societal attitudes or discrimination.

Every year 3rd December is observed as International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD). The theme for this year's International Day is "Achieving 17 Goals for the Future We Want". This theme notes the recent adoption of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the role of these goals in building a more inclusive and equitable world for persons with disabilities.

On this day message Secretary-General of United Nations Ban Ki-moon has said that "Let us work together for the full and equal participation of persons with disabilities in an inclusive and sustainable world that embraces humanity in all its diversity."

What is important is to have barrier free environment. Evidence and experience shows that when barriers to their inclusion are removed and persons with disabilities are empowered to participate fully in societal life, their entire community benefits. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) recognizes that the existence of barriers constitutes a central component of disability.

Under the Convention, disability is an evolving concept that "results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others."

Accessibility and inclusion of persons with disabilities are fundamental rights recognized by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and are not only objectives, but also pre-requisites for the enjoyment of other rights. It is also responsibility of each and every one of us to be a voice and speak for the rights of the people with special needs.

Let us work together for the full and equal participation of persons with disabilities in an inclusive and sustainable future that embraces humanity in all its diversity.

(With direct inputs from UN publication )