Celebrating the abilities of persons with disabilities
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Persons with disabilities are underrepresented. On average, persons with disabilities make up 15% of the world’s population, meaning that there are more than one billion people live with some form of disability, which is a diverse and broad spectrum. Based on the Susenas’ data, in Indonesia, there are 38,8 million people who are categorized as persons with disabilities in different aspects such as seeing, hearing, thinking, emotional disorders, and more. Disability can affect anyone, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, or socio-economic status.
On 3 December, the world observes the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, a UN Day that promotes the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development. Persons with disabilities are active agents of change who have valuable contributions to make to the development of their communities and countries. They have diverse skills, talents, and abilities and the right to enjoy the same opportunities and freedom as everyone else.
The theme for this year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities is “United in action to rescue and achieve the SDGs for, with, and by persons with disabilities,” which reflects the urgent need to accelerate and intensify our efforts to ensure that no one is left behind in the pursuit of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The inclusion of persons with disabilities is a priority of the UN, as it is essential for achieving its vision of a better world for all. In 2019, UN Secretary-General António Guterres launched the Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS) to integrate disability inclusion into every work and core function of the UN system. Under this strategy, The UN in Indonesia has been running a campaign on the inclusion of persons with disabilities these past years. The most recent one is Disability Inclusion Matters: Leaving No One Behind, Empowering Unity, Achieving More. The UN in Indonesia took a big leap by becoming more disability inclusive in its operations and programmatic work (please see our initiatives and campaigns in the list below).
“We have to change the policies, the rules, and the mentality. But in order to advocate for the
government, the United Nations must set an example,” said Valerie Julliand, the Resident
Coordinator of the United Nations in Indonesia. “Therefore, it’s important that we have persons
with disabilities, that we have people representing the geographic diversity of a country in each
team.”
Different UN agencies in Indonesia are also leading campaigns and projects dedicated to improving the lives of persons with disabilities across Indonesia, such as the WASH access for all programme, sign language dance competition, and entrepreneurship with the support of the Government of Indonesia. Coming next, the UN in Indonesia will hold an event to celebrate the potential of persons with disabilities, Patriot Adalah Kita (Rayakan ketangguhan dan keragaman ekspresi), or The Heroes are Us (Celebrating the resilience and diversity of expression). There will be art exhibitions from persons with disabilities, talk shows, and workshops dedicated to empowering persons with disabilities in Jakarta from 6-10 December 2023. Let us celebrate the potential and abilities of persons with disabilities, and reaffirm our commitment to work together to ensure their full and equal rights, inclusion, and empowerment!
For more disability inclusion campaigns,
UN report highlights disability data gaps in Indonesia
WASH Access for All: Inclusive transformation of WASH in puskesmas in Lampung Province
ILO’s support for businesses owned by persons with disabilities
UN in Indonesia’s first sign language dance choreography competition
Young entrepreneurs on answering the Challenges of Industrial Revolution 4.0
UN in Indonesia Learning Indonesian sign language with a barista from Sunyi Coffee cafe
UN in Indonesia Visit: Sunyi Coffee, a café with all disabled employees
Working with the UN for Persons with Disabilities
Workshop on Participation of Persons with Disabilities’ Organisations in Policy Making
UN in Indonesia’s Joint Traineeship Programme for Diversity
Assistive Technology for Persons with Disability
"Show Your Sign", International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2021
UN entities involved in this initiative
Goals we are supporting through this initiative
