Inclusion matters

02.12.2015 - The estimated 1 billion people living with disabilities face barriers every day, in areas of transportation, employment, and education as well as social and political participation.

By promoting empowerment, real opportunities for people are created. Empowerment involves investing in people - in jobs, health, nutrition, education, and social protection. When people are empowered they are better prepared to take advantage of opportunities, they become agents of change.

Haben Girma is one of those agents of change. As the first deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, she advocates for the civil rights of people with disabilities and is determined to remove access barriers facing people with disabilities around the world.

"Graduating from Harvard Law School says a lot about what can be done when people have the right attitude. We should try to move towards a more inclusive world, so that it’s no longer a big deal for a deafblind person to go to law school”, she says.

She is passionate about designing technology with accessibility in mind and enjoys surfing in her spare time.

Inclusion is a simple, but powerful concept. The right to participate in public life is essential to create stable democracies, active citizenship and reduce inequalities in society. To promote awareness and mobilize support for critical issues people with disabilities face, the UN marks 3 December as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Upcoming Events

• 2 - 12 Feb 2016: 54th session of the Commission for Social Development, New York, USA

• 10 - 12 Feb 2016: Zero Project Conference 2016 on Inclusive Education and/or Information and        Communication Technologies, Vienna, Austria

• 14 - 24 March 2016: 60th session of the Commission on the Status of Women

• 11 - 13 April 2016: 9th World Assembly of Disabled People's International, Delhi, India

• 25 - 26 April 2016: Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity, Hawai'i, USA

• 5 - 27 April 2016: VIII Latin-American Congress of the Blind, Montevideo, Uruguay

• 23 - 24 May 2016: World Humanitarian Summit, Istanbul, Turkey

 UN Observances

• 4 January: World Braille Day

• 8 February: International Epilepsy Day

• 21 March: World Down Syndrome Day

• 2 April: World Autism Awareness Day

• 13 June: International Albinism Awareness Day

• 5 October: World Habitat Day

• 8 October: World Sight Day

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UNRICs related links:

·         UN Enable

·         Haben Girma

·         EU Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities

·         European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

Photo Credits:

·         Cover Photo: Arturo de Albornoz

·         Second Photo: TEDxBaltimore