Human Rights Commission

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is celebrated on 3 December each year. The day is promoted across the world by the United Nations to encourage better understanding of disability issues.

This year’s theme is  Together for a better world for all: Including persons with disabilities in development.

For the first time, the Day will be commemorated under a general theme with supporting sub-themes drawing attention to key areas that would work in synergy to mainstream disability in all development processes. The suggested sub-themes include:

• Mainstreaming disability: including a disability perspective in all development processes
• Gender: including women and girls with disabilities in development
• Including children and youth with disabilities in development
• Accessibility: removing barriers and promoting disability-inclusive development
• Promoting data collection and statistics on disability.

Visit UNs Enable website to find out more about global disability issues.

Previous years’ themes include:

• 1998: Arts, Culture and Independent Living
• 1999: Accessibility for all for the new Millennium
• 2000: Making information technologies work for all
• 2001: Full participation and equality: The call for new approaches to assess progress and evaluate outcome
• 2002: Independent Living and Sustainable Livelihoods
• 2003: A Voice of our Own
• 2004: Nothing about Us, Without Us
• 2005: Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Action in Development
• 2006: E-Accessibility
• 2007: Decent Work for Persons with Disabilities
• 2008: Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Dignity and justice for all of us
• 2009: Making the Millenium Development Goals Inclusive: Empowerment of persons with disabilities and their communities around the world
• 2010: Keeping the promise: Mainstreaming disability in the Millennium Development Goals towards 2015 and beyond.

(source: Wikipedia)