December 2022 - You are accessing an archived version of our website. This website is no longer maintained or updated. The Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform has been migrated here: https://sdgs.un.org/

Week 3 - International Disability Alliance and International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC)

10 May 2016

Persons with disabilities were left out of the MDGs: unmentioned and left behind by a ‘raising averages’ approach. If the SDGs are to include everyone, we cannot focus on low-hanging fruit. To create inclusive SDGs, a human rights approach is required for implementation and review. Many stakeholders are already engaged in the UN’s human rights review processes: treaty bodies, special processes and the Human Rights Council. If the SDGs are to be achieved for everyone, SDG reviews need to be linked to human rights review processes. The essential role of stakeholders as the external accountability mechanism for UN Member States means we have to coordinate this ourselves and not wait for an invitation. The disability rights movement has the experience and resources to link the SDGs’ review process to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ensuring development is inclusive of persons with disabilities. Across all stakeholders, we have the combined experience to link the SDGs to the entire international human rights infrastructure. This has the potential to lead to the greatest political, infrastructural and financial investment for realising human rights in history. A human rights approach must be coordinated globally within and among our movements for each country’s SDG review. Regionally, we must share information, resources, and training, and manage funding. We must collaborate nationally so, as governments plan and implement the SDGs, we can ensure that all stakeholders, including persons with disabilities, are represented throughout the next fifteen years and beyond.
United Nations