Minister Schulze announces that Germany will host third Global Disability Summit and make the rights of persons with disabilities an international focus

InclusionMinister Schulze announces that Germany will host third Global Disability Summit and make the rights of persons with disabilities an international focus

The purpose of the Summit is to lend support, from a development perspective, to the global implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and to further advance that process. This will be the third Global Disability Summit. The first two took place in London in 2018 and in Oslo in 2022.

Development Minister Svenja Schulze said:"The inclusion of persons with disabilities is a human right. It is not a voluntary act, it is an obligation that we all have. Yet their concerns - and there are roughly one billion people in the world who are living with a disability - are still far too rarely the focus of attention, both in Germany and worldwide. Some 80 per cent of all persons with disabilities live in developing and emerging economies. Often, they are excluded from social and working life. In order to boost progress on the inclusion of persons with disabilities internationally, we will host the next Global Disability Summit in Germany, together with our Jordanian partners and the International Disability Alliance. Ultimately, progress on the inclusion of people with disabilities means eliminating social discrimination - and that benefits everyone."

3 December was declared the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in 1993. Worldwide, there are over one billion people living with disabilities. Even though legal regulations exist, there are often social barriers, prejudice and discrimination which prevent people with disabilities from participating in society on an equal footing. Often, they have less access to education and to the labour market, to health and social systems, and to financial services. The COVID-19 pandemic, armed conflict, environmental disasters, and displacement have further exacerbated these inequalities.

That is why Germany and Jordan decided together with IDA to host the next Global Disability Summit in Berlin. The Summit will bring together global, regional and national players who share the same goal: strengthening the rights of persons with disabilities in order to improve their living conditions worldwide, including in particular in the Global South.

The inclusion of people with disabilities is an important objective of Germany's development policy. The German Development Ministry (BMZ) provides targeted support for persons with disabilities through dedicated projects, and it has also mainstreamed their inclusion in all its development work.

Jordan, co-host of the 2025 Global Disability Summit, is a pioneer in the international arena when it comes to the inclusion of people with disabilities. It was one of the first countries to sign the CRPD. The BMZ supports Jordan, for example, with regard to making its school system disability-inclusive. There are already more than 20,000 children in Jordan who attend disability-inclusive schools, including refugee children from Syria.