3 December 2015: A DAY FOR ALL

A message from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, Catalina Devandas Aguilar

This December 3, I join persons with disabilities around the world to celebrate our Day, a tradition that we initiated 23 years ago. Two intense and fruitful decades have passed since that first celebration, and we have plenty to be proud of: we have gained international recognition of our rights by States across the globe, and with them, of our rightful place in society.

Our advocacy is becoming a civil rights movement of global dimension.  Our perspectives, informed by the multiple barriers we experience in our daily lives and civic participation, are contributing to make our societies and institutions more inclusive, democratic and prosperous.  We are mobilizing social changes which impact beyond the boundaries of our community, and we can say proudly that we stand at the center of what’s becoming a true social revolution; one that is not only expanding our notion of diversity, but also showing us all a clear path to embrace it.

This is an occasion to take pride of who we are as individuals, and of our strengths and achievements as a collective.  But it is also an opportunity not to miss for reminding ourselves and the international community the pressing challenges we continue to face daily, in our struggle for the recognition of our rights. Every day, millions of persons across the globe are victims of discrimination, exclusion from education and labor markets, denial of civic rights and citizenship, arbitrary deprivation of liberty, institutionalization, force sterilization and violence, because of their disability. These multiple forms of marginalization are the main reason behind the disproportionate poverty rates among persons with disabilities: an enormous social capital unjustly and unnecessarily squandered.

We must change this. Almost ten years after the establishment of the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, it is now time to take decisive action to eliminate harmful practices, discrimination and stigma from our governments, institutions, public services and communities, and to make the places where we live inclusive and accessible for persons with disabilities. It is now time to make society safe and truly inclusive of diversity, so we can all take our rightful place in it.

Persons with disabilities are part of each and every ethnic, cultural and socio-economic group; we are children, women and men of all ages, and we share with the rest of the community the same diversity of beliefs, gender identities or sexual orientations. We are also very diverse in our impairments and in the way the barriers each one of us face affect our identities. And just like everybody else, we have families, loved ones, dreams and aspirations, as well as concerns and frustrations over the many injustices in the world.

As a complex collective that includes all identities and human experiences, we are constantly challenging society to become more aware and inclusive of its own plurality.

Our decision to Celebrate December 3rd as A Day for All is our way to transcend the boundaries of our community, and invite everyone to rethink our societies, so that everyone can live and participate without discrimination. We encourage everyone to take on, together, the crucial challenge of embracing diversity. Let’s make this Day a true day for all, to celebrate and welcome everyone as part of our wonderful human diversity.