Protecting Those Among Us Who Live With a Disability

Al-Ittihad, UAE, February 24

Last week saw the conclusion of the Global Disability Summit, hosted by the governments of Norway and Ghana, and held in the Norwegian capital, Oslo. This summit aimed to monitor and promote the implementation of the principles laid out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, especially the notion that no disabled person should be neglected or ignored and that all societies should promote greater inclusivity of those living with a disability. This convention, which has been ratified so far by more than 182 countries, obligates all countries to enact laws that enable people living with disabilities to participate in the community; to grant them the same rights that healthy people enjoy in the areas of education, work, cultural activity, property ownership, and inheritance; and to ensure that they aren’t discriminated against in any aspect of life. With less than eight years remaining to achieve the 17 sustainable development goals, the summit’s participants sought to urge and encourage state leaders to promote procedures and legislation to ensure justice and equality for people with disabilities and their inclusion in their societies as individuals with equal rights. The convening of this Oslo summit comes at a time when international data indicate that one billion people, or approximately one out of every seven people, suffer from some form of disability, including 190 million individuals over the age of fifteen who suffer from severe disabilities that require medical treatment. These numbers are expected to increase in the future, because of expected demographic changes and the increase in the prevalence of chronic noncommunicable diseases. The term “disability” refers to a wide range of physical and cognitive impairments that a person faces because of a specific health condition, such as cerebral palsy, dementia, blindness, and deafness, or conditions that come as a result of psychological disorders, such as depression and schizophrenia. Discrimination against these disabilities can take many forms, ranging all the way from stigma and “othering” to a lack of social support systems to meet the special needs of disabled individuals. For example, people with disabilities often receive services that are subpar when they pursue health treatment. They may encounter services, such as public transportation, that are simply inaccessible to them. And they may be singled out and ostracized for their condition. All these things make it important for us to increase the measures and procedures we enact to empower these individuals, especially when it comes to basic services that every citizen deserves. It’s our responsibility and our obligation toward those who seek to maintain a normal life. –Akmal Abd Al-Hakim (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)