Observed annually on December 3, the International Day of People with Disability aims to raise public awareness and promote understanding and acceptance of individuals with disability.

This year, the day is observed with the theme of ‘Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future’.

It highlights the significance of empowering people with disabilities to take the lead in shaping their own destinies and contributing to society.

The leadership of persons with disabilities is epitomized by the global disability rights movement’s slogan “Nothing About Us Without Us”. 

It connotes the basic requirements of participation, representation, and inclusion and calls for persons with disabilities to actively shape the conditions of their lives.

One of the priorities of the global disability agenda is to advance the agency and leadership of persons with disabilities. 

In the past decades, persons with disabilities and organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) have already championed for the changes in their communities, and have been leading many of the community-led initiatives not only to advance their own rights and wellbeing, but also to promote inclusive development for instance enabling universal access to basic services by all. They have done so by taking both targeted and mainstreaming approaches to disability inclusion through, among others, consultation, data collection and analysis, and support with advocacy and accountability efforts.

The observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2024 (IDPD 2024) takes place against the backdrop of pivotal global developments, from the Summit of the Future to the upcoming Second World Summit for Social Development. 

These key global Summits will complement one another in providing a continuous roadmap toward disability-inclusive and sustainable peace and development.

By emphasizing this complementarity, the theme chosen for the observance in 2024 aims to underscore the importance of leveraging the leadership of persons with disabilities to ensure disability-inclusive and sustainable peace and development for all.

Impacts of sanctions on persons with disabilities

Speaking at the 17th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Ali-Mohammad Qaderi, the former head of the State Welfare Organization, said Iran will make every effort to enhance and expand the necessary services for persons with disabilities in accordance with the framework of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The conference was held from June 12 to13 June at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

“This is notwithstanding the fact that the cruel sanctions imposed by the United States and many Western countries on the Islamic Republic of Iran have significantly increased the prime costs of rehabilitation items and specialized services, and affected the economic capabilities of individuals receiving such services,” he said.

“Respecting persons with disabilities and striving to create equal opportunities for them has always been integral to our religious and national teachings, as well as the programs of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

One of the most significant measures we have undertaken to support the rights of persons with disabilities is the enactment of the Law on Protecting the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” the official stressed.