Disabled people are among the poorest and most socially excluded people in the world and, on 3 December, international day of persons with disabilities, we are calling on the UK government to make sure that their rights are not forgotten in international development work.
The millennium development goals, which end in 2015, make no reference to the rights of disabled people, and disability is not mentioned in the supporting indicators. Governments around the world must not repeat this critical mistake when considering the sustainable development goals, which will follow the MDGs. There are more than a billion disabled people in the world, of whom 80% live in developing countries. Disabled people rarely have equal access to basic goods and services, and their rights are often denied, which affects their economic, social and political progress, and that of their families.
The UK government will launch a new disability framework today, which we hope will ensure that disabled people in developing countries will be included in DfID’s work and be part of the decision-making process. But it is vital that this work is continued on an international stage. We urge the government and party leaders to recognise that the rights of disabled people, including disabled children, must be recognised in the SDGs to build diverse, prosperous and inclusive societies.
Ben Jackson chief executive, Bond, Tiziana Oliva international director, Leonard Cheshire Disability, Dr Caroline Harper chief executive, Sightsavers, Barbara Frost chief executive, WaterAid, Justin Byworth chief executive, World Vision UK, Simon O’Connell executive director elect, Mercy Corps, James Thornberry director, Sense International, Tim Wainwright chief executive, ADD International, Aleema Shivji director, Handicap International UK, Ben Simms director, StopAids, Rev Rachel Carnegie and Rev Andy Bowerman executive directors, Anglican Alliance, Joanna Clark director of Deaf Child Worldwide, Jane Anthony director, Able Child Africa, Charles Thomson chief executive, Children in Crisis, Peter Walker national director, TLMEW, Aaron Oxley executive director, Results UK, Andrew Betts director, Advantage Africa, Peter Ackland chief executive, International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, Richard Frost chief executive, Motivation, Andrew Ketteringham treasurer, Alzheimer’s Disease International, Anna-mai Estrella executive director, Chance for Childhood, Peer Baneke chief executive, Multiple Sclerosis International Federation, Firoz Patel chief executive, Child Reach, Anthony Williams chairperson, Near East Foundation UK, Kirsty Smith director, CBM UK, Lael Mohib director, ECI (the Enabled Children Initiative)
• The tragedy of people around the world not having access to Aids drugs could worsen dramatically as a result of the EU-USA trade agreement, the TTIP, being pushed by Cameron and the European Commission. One proposal is to expand data exclusivity rules, which could significantly push up the cost of the generic drugs that provide the backbone of the international Aids response. Countries that used their legal right to override intellectual property laws to access generic medicines in response to health emergencies could also find themselves at the mercy of a lawsuit from pharmaceutical multinationals under the controversial investor-state dispute settlement. Fighting the global Aids crisis means the introduction of progressive legislation and strengthening public health services; the TTIP would undermine both.
Polly Jones
Head of campaigns and policy, World Development Movement
