The Power of Partnerships in securing the rights of people with disability in the context of COVID-19 .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform

The Power of Partnerships in securing the rights of people with disability in the context of COVID-19

Thursday, 8 July 2021

7:30 AM - 9:00 AM

Virtual (NY Time)

Side Event

The Qatar Foundation for Social Work, Co-organizers: UNICEF, Perkins School for the Blind and World Enabled

The Doha Declaration was the outcome of the International Conference on Disability and Development held in Qatar in December 2019. The pre-existing inequalities and challenges faced by people with disability is deepened by the effect of COVID-19 around the world. The multidimensional model of disability requires a multi-stakeholder dialogue and collaboration. Therefore, the role of partnerships across countries and within national institutions including government bodies, civil society and the private sector is far more important today to achieve inclusive development for people with disability.

In order to move forward in our commitment to achieve an inclusive response to COVID-19 it is important to reimagine our partnership model to adapt to the new circumstances caused by the pandemic. New challenges require a new open and transparent dialogue and collective effort which includes sharing of best practices among countries and institutions to discover new effective solutions.

In this session our main theme is: “How can governments, international organizations, civil society organizations and the private sector work collectively to ensure mainstreaming of disability in all measures in response to COVID-19?”

The session will focus on the following areas:

How can we strengthen international cooperation to ensure open and accessible knowledge transfer of data, research and development in the best practices in achieving inclusive response to COVID-19 in areas of education and social protection?

How can we strengthen the role civil society organizations in supporting families and care givers of people with disability during the context of COVID-19?

Contribution to the High-Level Political Forum 2021:

Provide an insight on how COVID-19 affected social work around the world and specifically the rights of people with disability advancing the agenda of “Leaving No One Behind”.

Provide recommendations from key international and local players on how to leverage partnerships to ensure an inclusive response to COVID-19 contributing to SDG 17 partnership for development.

Project the interlink between SDG 17 partnership and SDG 10 reduced inequalities specially under the context of COVID-19