Anderson Gitonga delivers a statement at COSP15

News | January 16, 2024

Statement of Anderson Gitonga, CBM Global’s Inclusive Development Director, at the 15th Conference of the States Parties (COSP) to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) General Assembly on Tuesday, 14 June 2022

Leaving no one behind through the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are at the core of CBM Global Disability Inclusion. We are an international disability organization with a development and humanitarian mandate working toward an inclusive world in which all persons with disabilities enjoy their human rights and achieve their full potential.

The pandemic continues to highlight the deep inequalities and systemic discrimination that persons with disabilities face, and also has created new barriers, including lack of access to healthcare systems and vaccines; inaccessible information, transport, and services; barriers in virtual settings and the subsequent increased digital divide. This is driven by a lack of inclusion in recovery efforts and lack of disability data hindering disability inclusive development. Recent events in Ukraine, and the ongoing climate crisis create a world increasingly less safe for persons with disabilities, especially from to the lack of inclusion in emergency and humanitarian responses.

Humanitarian aid and international cooperation efforts need to be in line with the CRPD and fully respect, protect, and ensure the human rights of all persons with disabilities, but especially women and girls and the most underrepresented groups, to participate in a meaningful way in decision-making processes. This is critical and benefits society as a whole. One key example of this is that throughout the pandemic, many organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) led response efforts and provided vital information and support to their members where these services did not exist. Another example is of OPDs leading response efforts in Ukraine.

CBM Global Disability Inclusion continues to work in partnership with organizations of persons with disabilities in all areas of our work. We do this in more than 20 countries with over 90 partners. We deeply value the expertise that organizations of persons with disabilities bring to the development and humanitarian agenda – and this expertise is mainly drawn from the lived experiences of persons with disabilities. Our work truly encompasses the concept of “nothing about us, without us.”

Thank you very much for your attention.

Anderson Gitonga, Inclusive Development Director, CBM Global

E-mail: Anderson.Gitonga@cbm-global.org 

Watch the 2nd meeting of the 15th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:

 

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