Prime Minister opens the Global Disability Summit 2022
Press release | No: 25/22 | Date: 16/02/2022 | Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre will open the second global summit on inclusion of persons with disabilities today. The Summit is co-hosted by Norway, Ghana, and the International Disability Alliance (IDA), and is being held on a digital platform.
‘More than a billion people are living with some form of disability. This represents nearly 15 % of the world’s population. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the difficult situation for persons with disabilities. Many people already had difficult living conditions before the pandemic.The pandemic has revealed serious systemic weaknesses that have further increased the vulnerability of an already marginalised group. I am proud to be part of this event to focus the attention of world leaders on disability inclusion and rights,’ said Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
Key topics for the Global Disability Summit 2022 are meaningful engagement and building back better in the post-COVID recovery. Countries and organisations will commit to making development cooperation more disability-inclusive, in line with the 2030 Agenda’s principle to leave no one behind and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
‘The aim of the Summit is to bring about lasting change for persons with disabilities. To succeed, it is vital that governments, international organisations, civil society, and the private sector commit to strengthening their efforts to promote inclusion and rights-based development,’ said Minister of International Development Anne Beathe Tvinnereim.
In addition to Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, President of Ghana Akufo-Addo, and President of the International Disability Alliance Yannis Vardakastanis, UN Secretary-General António Guterres is participating in the opening of the Summit. Other participants include high-level representatives from UN member states, heads of UN organisations and development banks, as well as representatives of the private sector and civil society. Organisations of persons with disabilities have played a key role in the planning and implementation of the Summit.
The Summit can be followed in English on regjeringen.no. For other languages register on the Summit’s webpage.