International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3) is an

international observance Lists of holidays by various categorizations. Religious holidays Abrahamic holidays (Middle Eastern) Christian holidays *Christmas (Nativity of Jesus, Nativity of Jesus Christ, the beginning of Christmastide) *Solemnity of Mary, Mother ...

promoted by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

since 1992. It has been observed with varying degrees of success around the planet. The observance of the Day aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the

dignity Dignity is a human's contentment attained by satisfying physiological needs and a need in development. The content of contemporary dignity is derived in the new natural law theory as a distinct human good. As an extension of the Enlightenment- ...

, rights and

well-being Well-being is what is Intrinsic value (ethics), ultimately good for a person. Also called "welfare" and "quality of life", it is a measure of how well life is going for someone. It is a central goal of many individual and societal endeavors. ...

of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

, social, economic and cultural life. It was originally called "International Day of Disabled Persons" until 2007. Each year the day focuses on a different issue.

History

International Year of Disabled Persons 1981

In 1976, the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

proclaimed 1981 as the

International Year of Disabled Persons The year 1981 was proclaimed the International Year of Disabled Persons (IYDP) by the United Nations. It called for a plan of action with an emphasis on equalization of opportunities, rehabilitation and prevention of disabilities. The slogan of I ...

. It called for a plan of action at the National, regional and International levels, with an emphasis on equalization of opportunities, rehabilitation and prevention of disabilities. The theme of the International Year of Disabled Persons was "Full Participation and Equality", defined as the right of persons with disabilities to take part fully in the life and development of their societies, enjoy living conditions equal to those of other citizens, and have an equal share in improved conditions resulting from socio-economic development.

United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons 1983–1992

To provide a time frame during which Governments and Organizations could implement the activities recommended in the World Programme of Action, the General Assembly proclaimed 1983–1992 the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons.

Themes from previous years

* 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 "Nothing about us without us" () is a slogan used to communicate the idea that no policy should be decided by any representative without the full and direct participation of members of the group(s) affected by that policy. In its modern form, this ...

" * 2005: "Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Action in Development" * 2006: " E-Accessibility" * 2007: "

Decent Work Decent work is employment that "respects the fundamental rights of the human person as well as the Labor rights, rights of workers in terms of conditions of work safety and remuneration. ... respect for the physical and mental integrity of the ...

for Persons with Disabilities" * 2008: "Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Dignity and justice for all of us" * 2009: "Making the

MDGs In the United Nations, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 created following the Millennium Summit, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. These wer ...

Inclusive:

Empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...

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" * 2011: "Together for a better world for all: Including persons with disabilities in development" * 2012: "Removing barriers to create an

inclusive Inclusive may refer to: * Inclusive disjunction, A or B or both * Inclusive fitness, in evolutionary theory, how many kin are supported including non-descendants * Inclusive tax, includes taxes owed as part of the base * Inclusivism Inclusivi ...

and accessible society for all" * 2013: "Break Barriers, Open Doors: for an inclusive society and development for all" * 2014: "

Sustainable development Sustainable development is an approach to growth and Human development (economics), human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General ...

: The promise of technology" * 2015: "

Inclusion Inclusion or Include may refer to: Sociology * Social inclusion, action taken to support people of different backgrounds sharing life together. ** Inclusion (disability rights), promotion of people with disabilities sharing various aspects of lif ...

matters: access and empowerment for people of all abilities" * 2016: "Achieving 17 Goals for the future we want" * 2017: "Transformation toward sustainable and resilient society for all" *2018: " Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality" * 2019: "Promoting the participation of persons with disabilities and their leadership: taking action on the 2030 Development Agenda" * 2020: "Building Back Better: toward a disability-inclusive, accessible and

sustainable Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

post

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

world" * 2021: "

Leadership Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 world" *2022: "Transformative solutions for inclusive development: the role of innovation in fuelling an accessible and equitable world" *2023: "United in action to rescue and archive the SDGs for, with and by person with disabilities" *2024: “Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future” On the 2012 International Day of People with Disability, the

United Kingdom government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

introduced mandatory work for disabled people who received welfare benefits in order to "Improve disabled peoples chances of getting work by mandatory employment". The founder of the Susan Archibald Centre stated that the mandatory employment of people with disabilities is a breach of article 27/2 of the UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' noted that from this United Nations appointed day onwards people with disabilities and illnesses ranging from cancer to paralysis to mental health may be

forced ''Forced'' is a single-player and co-op action role-playing game developed by BetaDwarf, released in October 2013 for Windows, OS X and Linux through the Steam platform as well as Wii U. It is about gladiators fighting for their freedom in a fant ...

by the UK government to work for free or else they risk being stripped of up to 70% of their welfare benefits."Sick and disabled braced for enforced work-for-benefits programme", Shiv Malik, ''The Guardian'', 30 November 201

/ref> A program was also launched on 3 December in India to serve the "differently-able" community of the country as an initiative called

Accessible India Campaign Accessible India Campaign or Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan is a program which is set to be launched to serve the Differently abled, differently-able community of the country. The program comes with an index to measure the design of disabled-friendly b ...

under Article 9 of the UN

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international human rights instrument, international human rights multilateral treaty, treaty of the United Nations intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with Disabil ...

(UNCRPD).

References

External links