UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan urged the world community to mobilise financial resources to provide assistive technology devices, products and services to over a billion people with disabilities in an effort to improve their living standards, independence and social inclusion.
“Recognition of the right to development of persons with disabilities can provide a formidable foundation for international cooperation and solidarity,” Saima Saleem, a counselor at Pakistan’s permanent mission to the UN in New York, told a meeting of states party to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on Wednesday.
Saleem said the coronavirus pandemic has posed greater challenges for persons with disabilities, and, apart from the mobilisation of funds for assistive technology devices for them, she made a series of proposals for staging a “resilient” recovery.
The proposals included:
— The international community step up its efforts to fulfil sustainable development needs of persons with disabilities by implementing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);
— Member states, United Nations and business enterprises create employment opportunities by providing reasonable accommodations, as also reservation of employment quotas for persons with disabilities;
— Developing and Least Developed Countries be provided necessary funding through International Financial Institutions, ODA (official development assistance) and donor assistance to help persons with disabilities improve their living standards.
— Ensure inclusion and access to social protection programmes and universal health coverage;
— Member states and the United Nations re-double their efforts to make infrastructure accessible;
— Urgently deal with Human rights violations of persons with disabilities in conflict settings and situations of foreign occupation.
“Addressing developmental needs and ensuring human rights of persons with disabilities is crucial for creating inclusive and participatory societies,” Saleem said.
“As a state party to Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities since 2011, Saleem said, Islamabad continues to promote and protect human rights and developmental needs of persons with disabilities, through a wide range of legal, policy and administrative measures.
These included: the formulation of the ICT Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2021; reservation of a two percent quota across the board in public sector employment; integration of the rights of persons with disabilities in all programs and activities related to relief and rehabilitation during disasters by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA); inclusion in universal health coverage and social protection schemes; and introduction of inclusive education.
