What you need to know about the Global Disability Summit
Summary
In preparation to the GDS 2025, CDSK actively participated in the African Regional Disability summit , held in Nairobi, September 2024 African Disability Summit, where it focused on the African Disability Protocol and contributing to the African commitments to the GDS 2025.
Hosted by the International Disability Alliance, (IDA) the Government of Germany and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Global Disability Summit (GDS) 2025 is set take place from the 2nd to 3rd of April in Berlin.
It is a unique global mechanism that improves the lives of persons with disabilities, especially from the Global South. It was created in 2017 to convene global, regional, and national stakeholders that share the same goal and vision for disability inclusive development and humanitarian action. GDS takes place after every 3 years.
The summit aims to bridge the gap between two arenas that are still separate: disability inclusion and development cooperation, and it offers a mechanism for commitments that advance investments in financial and human resources to support disability inclusive sustainable development and humanitarian action.
The 2025 GDS focuses on the global efforts in ensuring the realization of disability inclusion worldwide. It brings various high-level stakeholders, government agencies, Civil society organizations, multilateral agencies. Organizations of persons with disabilities, foundations, private sectors, academia among others, in engaging and discussing the position of disability inclusion.
With an objective of building and expanding the momentum of the previous two GDS, it amplifies its impact in advancing the rights and inclusion of all persons with disabilities through International Cooperation.
The Forum will mainly focus on.
1. Nothing for us without us messages- call for inclusion of persons with disabilities in the formulation of disability strategies and even the GDS itself
2. Implementation- eye opener by showing countries how they can support and include people with disabilities.
3. Rights- encouraging the adoption of the United Nation Convention on the Rights of persons with disabilities UNCRPD across all government in upholding disability rights.
4. National ownership- countries must see supporting and including people with disabilities as a responsibility and a priority.
5. Disability Inclusive Developments- countries to think, prioritize and include people with disabilities in development corporation.
6. Bridging the gap- countries to utilize what they have in budgeting for disability inclusion.
7. Focus on data and evidence- to be able to include and support people with disabilities, we need more information about them for we cannot support and budget for what we do not know hence proper disaggregated data on persons with disabilities is a must.
GDS 2018- was cohosted by the Government of Kenya alongside the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development and the international Disability Alliance in London while GDS 2020 was cohosted by Governments of Norway and Ghana and was held in Oslo
In preparation to the GDS 2025, CDSK actively participated in the African Regional Disability summit , held in Nairobi, September 2024 African Disability Summit, where it focused on the African Disability Protocol and contributing to the African commitments to the GDS 2025.
Government urgencies, individuals, foundations and private sectors are encouraged to meaningfully participate in such fora to ensure that persons with disabilities are not left behind, let us not just talk about disability inclusion but actively participate in practicing it.
