Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific:

Though there is a strong probability that most people will become disabled at some point in their lives, those with disabilities have been left behind by development, including development aimed at being more sustainable.

Our Common Future is a report from the United Nations, written in 1987, that defines sustainable development and identifies paths towards it. Since then, efforts towards sustainability have failed to include the roughly 15 percent of the world’s population who live with disabilities. In 2007 the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was ratified. This convention was “the first disability-specific, international legal instrument that provides a comprehensive approach to respecting, protecting, and fulfilling the rights of persons with disabilities,” and explicitly empowers people with disabilities to be holders of rights. While the reality of living with a disability varies based on the place and society in which one lives, this lack of inclusion has contributed to higher rates of poverty and lower rates of education among persons with disabilities. 

In 2012 the United Nations started putting more effort into the inclusion of disabled persons through means such as the Incheon Strategy, but there is still a lot to be desired. The Incheon Strategy is intended to allow for the tracking of development and progress towards ensuring the rights of persons with disabilities. To help implement these strategies, ESCAP has taken action such as creating the Beijing Declaration which reaffirms the principles of the Incheon Strategy and emphasizes the importance of shared and inclusive development which leaves no one behind. When analyzing the effectiveness of the Incheon Strategy’s initiatives in 2017, ESCAP found that the social, educational, income and employment inequalities between people with able and disabled bodies is still extreme. Accessibility in education is particularly important for people with disabilities not only for the sake of education, but also for socialization, food, and class mobility. 

While states may be attempting to create better conditions for people with disabilities, they do run into issues when it comes to implementing these changes. The delegation from Iran has stated that “Despite efforts in all national, subregional and regional levels, people with disabilities in Iran still face failures and abuses from State Welfare Organization, discriminatory laws and policies, inaccessible public transport, inaccessible public buildings, and lack of accessibility and discrimination in healthcare.” Due to these issues of implementation, Iran has suggested multiple goals to be set by Member States, including one that does not allow governments to neglect persons with disabilities in their census, in order to make sure that they are allocating the proper resources. 

Though the Member States support the equality and inclusion of peoples with disabilities, some representatives have expressed concern about other pressing issues to their countries which may take priority.