Today December 3rd is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities

posted on Dec 03 by Stacy in the Advocacy, Disability News category

The theme for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Dec. 3, 2009 is “Making the MDGs Inclusive: Empowerment of persons with disabilities and their communities around the world.”

This year’s theme was selected to emphasize the importance of including people with disabilities in effecting the goals stated in the Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs, thereby empowering them. It is essential that the commitment to integrating disabled people into achieving these global MDGs is carried through from policy into practice.

The MDGs, or Millennium Development Goals, are eight goals from the United Nations Millennium Declaration that was accepted by 189 nations during the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000, with the goal of seeing them fully realized by 2015. The MDGs are:
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development

Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) is a vital way through which persons with disabilities can be mainstreamed into the developmental aspects of achieving these goals. A good CBR program includes access to health care, education, livelihood, community participation and inclusion and will result in empowerment of people with disabilities and their families.

Some ways to observe this event which can and should include people with disabilities:

• Hold forums and open discussions to discuss and highlight issues which affect the disabled and ways to include them in the developmental process
• Showcase the accomplishments and skills of people with disabilities in performances in which they live
• Increase public awareness regarding the progress and achievements of, as well as the obstacles facing people with disabilities by focusing media attention on the observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

For further, detailed information on today, see the United Nations.

Are you doing anything special today?  Or have you seen other organizations with interesting campaigns?