03/12/2025
celebrates the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, it’s observed annually on December 3rd to promote the rights and well-being of people with disabilities and raise awareness about their inclusion in all aspects of society. Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1992, the day encourages full and equal participation in society for persons with disabilities.
actively defends and promotes the inclusion of people with disabilities, recognizing their unique perspectives and the barriers they face.
Across all regions, persons with disabilities and their households face challenges and barriers in the attainment of social development objectives:
• They are more likely to live in poverty;
• They continue to face discrimination in employment, receiving lower wages and being overrepresented in the informal sector;
• Social protection systems are uneven in coverage and inadequate when considering extra disability-related costs, frequently excluding persons with disabilities in the informal sector; and,
• Many persons with disabilities’ experiences within care and support systems continue to be marked by the denial of their dignity, autonomy and agency.
The three core themes of social development, i.e. poverty eradication; promotion of full and productive employment and decent work for all; and social integration, are interrelated, mutually reinforcing and require an enabling environment so as to be achieved simultaneously. The inclusion of persons with disabilities as both agents and beneficiaries of social development is indispensable. Disability inclusion in all aspects of social, economic, cultural and political life is therefore an imperative.
The theme of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2025, “Fostering disability inclusive societies for advancing social progress”, builds on the reaffirmed commitment of world leaders gathered at the Second World Summit for Social Development to build a more just, inclusive, equitable and sustainable world and their understanding that advancing progress on social development depends on, and indeed necessitates, the inclusion of all segments of society.
