Young disabled campaigners demand a global voice
Young disabled campaigners demand a global voice
by Tiziana Oliva
One in six people have a disability: we cannot ignore this in the post-2015 development plans. (© Leonard Cheshire Disability)
There is nothing about disability in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Goals finish in 2015. But 80 per cent of people with disabilities in developing countries live below the poverty line. The goal of universal primary education is central to the MDGs. But in some developing countries, less than two per cent of children with disabilities go to school. For young people in the “Leonard Cheshire Young Voices” campaign, it is very important to see how disability can be included in the development plans for after 2015.
‘I am a young person with a disability, and I expect a lot of the post-2015 agenda,’ says Surya, a Young Voices campaigner in Indonesia. ‘We are hoping that we can be part of the post-2015 programme for reducing poverty and climate change.’
The Young Voices campaign brings together groups of young people with disabilities in more than 20 countries in Asia, Africa and the Americas. They came together because they want to speak out for the rights of people with disabilities worldwide. In their campaigns, they have persuaded governments to change laws, introduce new policies, and sign the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD). They have helped communities to understand that people with disabilities are the same as everybody else. We should not hide them away or make them victims. Because of the campaigners, schools, businesses, politicians, community leaders and many others now give people with disabilities the opportunities they deserve.
On 3 December, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the campaigners are producing a new report. This has been written by young people from all round the world. It is the first report like this, and it shows how governments are putting into practice the UNCRPD. It also has young people’s ideas about what they think needs to change.
The report also has stories of how Young Voices is making a difference with its campaigns: one group of young campaigners trained members of parliament in Swaziland on the UNCRPD, and because of this, the country agreed to the convention in 2012. In Mauritius, campaigners convinced the Ministry of Education to allow extra time for students with disabilities when sitting exams. In Tanzania, they persuaded the Minister to create a group to control how they introduce the UNCRPD. Because of the campaigning work, buildings, schools and public transport are now accessible to people with disabilities in India, Sierra Leone, Papua New Guinea and many other countries.
But there is still a lot that needs to change. These young campaigners are some of the lucky ones. There are many young people with disabilities around the world who cannot do what they want because there are so many barriers. Discrimination. Prejudice. Buildings, transport and communications they can’t use. No opportunities to go to school or find a job.
At the UN High Level Meeting on Disability and Development in September, world leaders agreed that people with disabilities would be very important in the new development goals for after 2015. We must make sure they keep this promise, so that people with disabilities have more opportunities for education and employment, and they help make the decisions.
3 December is an important day. On this day, more than ever, we want the world to remember that if we do not include people with disabilities we will never even get close to winning the global fight against poverty. A billion people around the world have a disability. Half of the world’s population is under 25. We must listen to the voices of young disabled people. They are our future.
Tiziana Oliva is the International Director of Leonard Cheshire Disability.
As this article has been simplified, the words, text structure and quotes may have been changed. For the original, please see: http://newint.org/blog/2013/12/03/day-of-disability-development-goals/
