Key issues
- Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
- NEW: COVID-19 Outbreak and Persons with Disabilities
- Disability and Sustainable Urban Development
- Monitoring and Evaluation of Disability-Inclusive Development
- Mainstreaming disability in development
- Operationalizing the 2030 Agenda: Ways forward to improve monitoring and evaluation of disability inclusion (29 December 2015)
The alphabetical listing below includes key areas of the work of the United Nations for persons with disabilities resources and provides related tools and resources:
Accessibility
- New: Accessibility and the status of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol thereto
- Good practices of accessible urban development
- Bridging the Gap: Your role in transporting children with disabilities to school in developing countries
- Accessibility for all: good practices of accessibility in Asia and the Pacific to promote disability-inclusive development
- Assistive technologies and the SDGs
- Valoracion De La Accesibilidad Cognitiva (Spanish)
- Accessibility and Development: Mainstreaming disability in the post-2015 development agenda
- UN Expert Group Meeting on Building Inclusive Society and Development Through Promoting ICT Accessibility: Emerging Issues and Trends (Tokyo Japan, 19-21 April 2012
- Expert Group Meeting on Accessibility, World Bank Headquarters, 28-30 June 2010
- Paratransit for mobility-impaired persons in developing regions: Starting up and scaling up (Spanish version: Transporte puerta a puerta para personas con movilidad limitada: Su inicio y su desarrollo) (Access Exchange International, 2012)
- Guidelines on the provision of manual wheelchairs in less resourced settings by WHO, ISPO, USAID
- Disability Dimension in Development Action: Manual on Inclusive Planning
- ESCWA – Accessibility for the Disabled: A Design Manual For A Barrier-Free Environment
- Integrating Appropriate Measures for People with Disabilities in the Infrastructure Sector
- Subjective measurement of participation and environmental barriers and facilitators in population surveys : use of standardized tools with a sub-sample of the Quebec Activity Limitations Survey (QALS)
- Universal Design and Visitability
- Comprehension, awareness and dissemination of disability issues by Handicap International
- Global Audit of Web Accessibility – Full Report (PDF)–[MS Word]
- Global Audit of Web Accessibility –Executive Summary
- The Accessibility Imperative: Implications of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for Information and Communication Technologies
- Grants for Home Modifications: 16 Resources for Homeowners with Disabilities
- The Room-by-Room HomeFit Tour
- Ultimate Disability Accommodation Guide
- Home Remodeling for People with Disabilities: What You Need to Know
- The Guide to Buying Used Accessible Vehicles
- Renting with Disabilities
- ADA: Disabilities and Your Rights as an Employee
- Disability Accommodation Cost Guides
Africa
- Toolkit on Disability for Africa
- Regional Meeting established the African Disability Forum, Addis Ababa, 17 – 19 November 2014
Photo 1 | Photo 2
Ageing
- Ageing and disability
- UN Focal Point on Ageing
- Issues of Disability and Ageing, NGO Committee on Ageing
- Leave No-One Behind: Ageing, Gender and the SDGs, UNDP
- Ageing in the Twenty-First Century: A Celebration and A Challenge, UNFPA and HelpAge International
- World Population Ageing 2015, United Nations, DESA Population Division
- The Global Strategy and Action Plan on Ageing and Health, World Health Organization
Albinism
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- People with albinism face multiple forms of discrimination worldwide
- Meet the Champions of the Albinism Cause
- International Albinism Awareness Day
Awareness-raising and the media
- Disability and the Media: Promoting an accurate image and enhancing the voice of persons with disabilities in the media
- Guidelines: How to Write and Report About People with Disabilities
- Creature Discomforts by Leonard Cheshire Disability
- Eliminating Offensive Terms about People With Disabilities (Style guide and Terms To Avoid When Writing About Disability)
- Media Representation of Disabled People
- Disability Rights Education Defense Fund: Doing Disability Justice
- Changing Attitudes Changing the World: Media’s Portrayal of People with Intellectual Disabilities
Children
- Interactive Panel Discussion on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Children with Disabilities, 17 June, 1.15 to 2.30 p.m., Conference Room 7, UN Headquarters, New York
- Innocenti Digest on the Rights of Children with Disabilities by UNICEF
- Innocenti Research Center: Innocenti Digest on the Rights of Children with Disabilities (Volume 13) by UNICEF
- Innocenti Insight: Children and Disability in Transition in CEE/CIS and Baltic States by UNICEF
- It”s About Ability by UNICEF
- UNICEF – Children with Disabilities
- Socialization and the Child who is Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Civil Society
- Expert Group Meeting on “Making it work: civil society participation in the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities“
- Strengthening civil society influence on the disability issue by Handicap International
- Principal international actors and networks of civil society by Handicap International
Community Living
Decent Work
- WORLD Policy Analysis Center (WORLD): Work Rights
- International Labour Organization [ILO]
- Factsheet on disability and employment
- Employment for persons with disabilities Fact Sheet [PDF]
- The Disabled Job Seeker’s Guide to Becoming a Real Estate Agent
- A How-to Guide on Job Searching with a Disability
- Managing Disability in the Workplace
- Facts on Disability in the World of Work by ILO
- The Right to Decent Work for Persons with Disabilities by International Labour Organization
- Achieving Equal Employment Opportunities for People with Disabilities Through Legislation: Guidelines by International Labour Office
- ILO Code of Practice: managing disability in the work place (2002) by International Labour Office
Education
- WORLD Policy Analysis Center (WORLD): Education Rights
- UNESCO World Social Science Report. 2016 | Challenging Inequalities: Pathways to a Just World [Postcard on Consequences of inequality for persons with disabilities on page 157]
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopts General Comment on Article 24: Right to Inclusive Education (adopted 26 August 2016)
- Making education a reality for children with disabilities, Side-event to the 2011 High-level Segment of the substantive session of ECOSOC Annual Ministerial Review, 5 July 2011, Geneva, Switzerland
- UNESCO: Education and Disability (Flagship Brochure)
- Overcoming Exclusion through Inclusive Approaches in Education Conceptual Paper by UNESCO
- Supporting Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students: Tools, Technology and Key Resources to Cultivate Academic Success
Economics
- Bond Disability and Development Group: Leaving no one behind: The value for money of disability-inclusive development
- DESA Briefing Series: Disability and Economics: The nexus between disability, education and employment. Panel discussion held at UN Headquarters on 1 July 2011
Family
- Families and Persons with Disabilities
- Tips for Parents of Children with Disabilities Who Want Them to Succeed in School
HIV/AIDS
Health
- WORLD Policy Analysis Center (WORLD): Access to Health
- Mental Health and Development
- Disability and rehabilitation (WHO) (See also, Disability and Rehabilitation Newsletter)
- Mental Health in Primary Care (WHO)
- Prevention of blindness and deafness [WHO]
- A Health Handbook for Women with Disabilities by Hesperian Foundation
- The Deaf Peers” Education Manual – for basic understanding of sexual health, HIV and AIDS by Sahaya International/GRACE
- Sexual and Reproductive Health of Persons with Disabilities by United Nations Population Fund
Human Rights
- WORLD Policy Analysis Center (WORLD): Civil and Political Rights
- Learning about human rights and disability
- Relationship between Development and Human Rights
- The current use and future potential of United Nations human rights instruments in the context of disability byUnited Nations, 2002)
- Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States: Guide, Monjurul Kabir and Arkadi Toritsyn. UNDP, 2013.
- Guía Básica para comprender y utilizar la Convención sobre los derechos de las personas con discapacidad-[MS Word]
- Human Rights. YES! Action and Advocacy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Regional and country reports on disability from the International Disability Rights Monitor by IDRM
- Training Manual on the Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on progress in the implementation of the recommendations contained in the study on the human rights of persons with disabilities-[MS Word]
- Human rights and disability by Handicap International
- The human rights-based approach to relief and development by Handicap International
- We Have Human Rights: A human rights handbook for people with developmental disabilities by Harvard Project on Disability, 2008
ICT – Information and communications technology
- UN DESA-UNESCO Forum Disability and Development “ICT and Disability: Pursuing Inclusive Development through Technology” on 25 November at the International Conference – From Exclusion to Empowerment: The Role of Information and Communication Technologies for Persons with Disabilities, New Dehli, India, 24-26 November 2014
- G3ict The Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs
- Joint ITU and G3ict Forum 2008 on “The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Challenges and Opportunities for ICT Standards (21 April 2008)
Indigenous peoples
Mainstreaming disability in development
- Working Group on Disability and Digital Societies
- Mainstreaming disability in the development agenda
- Global Status Report on Disability and Development (Prototype 2015 – UNEDITED VERSION)
- Guidance note on integrating the rights of persons with disabilities in United Nations programming at the country level
- The Millennium Development Goals and disability
- Expert Meetings on Monitoring and Evaluation for Disability-inclusive Development
- Asian and Pacific Decade for Disabled Persons, 2003-2012
- Incheon Strategy to “Make the Right Real” for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific (Also available: Easy to Understand Version, Pocket Version)
- ESCAP Guide on Disability Indicators for the Incheon Strategy
- A Handbook on Mainstreaming Disability by VSO
- Checklist for Inclusion (Excerpt from ”Building an Inclusive Development Community Manual”)
- Disability and Poverty: A Survey of World Bank Poverty Assessments and Implications
- Disability, Poverty, and Development by DFID
- Good Practices for the Economic Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Developing Countries: Funding Mechanisms for Self-Employment by Handicap International
- Making PRSP Inclusive Manual
- People with Disabilities in India: From Commitments to Outcome,” by Human Development Unit, South Asia Region, World Bank (May 2007)
- Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Its Implementation Relevance for the World Bank
- Social Analysis and Disability: A Guidance Note – Incorporating Disability-Inclusive Development into Bank-Support Projects by World Bank
- Disability policies: strategies for mainstreaming by Handicap International
- International cooperation policies on disability in emergency and development by Handicap International
- Make Development Inclusive: How to include the perspectives of persons with disabilities in the project cycle management guidelines of the European Commission (2008)
- Economic Implications of Chronic Illness and Disability in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union by the World Bank
- The United Nations Development Agenda: Development for All (2007)
- Barclays launches Return on Disability ETNs
- Convention on the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) (adopted by the General Assembly resolution 61/106 on 13 December 2006)
- Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (adopted by the General Assembly resolution 48/96 annex on 20 December 1993)
- World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled Persons (adopted by the General Assembly on 3 December 1982)
Mental Health
- Mental Health and Development
- Mental Health Matters: Social Inclusion of Youth with Mental Health Conditions
- Atlas: Global Resources for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities by WHO (2007)
- Behavioral Outcomes of Deinstitutionalization for People with Intellectual Disabilities: A Review of Studies Conducted Between 1980 and 1999
- Hear Our Voices: People with an Intellectual disability and their families speak out on Poverty and Exclusion
- We have human rights: A human rights handbook fro people with developmental disabilities by Harvard Project on Disability (2008)
- Substance Abuse Among Physically Disabled Individuals
Migration
- Refugees and migrants with disabilities
- International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (Adopted by General Assembly resolution 45/158 of 18 December 1990)
- Report of the Secretary-General: International Migration and Development (A/68/190)
- UNDESA, Population Division, International Migration Report (2013)
- UNDP, Guidance Note: A Development Approach to Migration and Displacement (2016)
- UNDP, Human Development Report 2009, Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development (2009)
- UNHCR, Facts and Figures about Refugees (2014)
- UNHCR, Unmet needs and diminished opportunities: disability, displacement and humanitarian healthcare (2011)
- UNHCR, Need to Know Guidance on Working with Persons with Disabilities in Forced Displacement (2011)
- UNHCR, Conclusion on refugees with disabilities and other persons with disabilities protected and assisted by UNHCR (2010)
- Global Migration Group on the Human Rights of Migrants in Irregular Situations (2010)
- Disability-inclusive Humanitarian Action
- Handicap International, Disabled and Alone, South Sudanese Refugee Finally Finds Safety
- Handicap International, Advocating For Disabled Refugees
- Women Refugee Commission, Refugees with Disabilities | Fact Sheet
- Women Refugee Commission, Disability Inclusion: Translating Policy into Practice in Humanitarian Action
- Forced Migration Review, Issue 35, 27 feature theme articles on Disability and Displacement
Monitoring and evaluation
- WORLD Policy Analysis Center (WORLD)
- Disability references in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicators (agreed upon by the UN Statistical Commission in March 2016)
- Operationalizing the 2030 Agenda: Ways forward to improve monitoring and evaluation of disability inclusion
- Expert Meetings on Monitoring and Evaluation for Disability-inclusive Development
- Disability indicators for the SDG Framework (Technical Note)
Prepared by SCRPD in consultation with experts from international agencies and from disability organizations and submitted to the IAEG-SDGs. See also SGD Indicators and reference to disability - Disability Statistics
- International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health [ICF]
- Measuring Disability Prevalence by World Bank
- Students with disabilities, learning difficulties and disadvantages: Statistics and Indicators of OAS Countries by OECD (2007)
- Les personnes ayant des incapacités: encore plus pauvres et à part…qu”égales : Les facteurs personnels et environnementaux associés à l”appauvrissement des personnes ayant des incapacités et de leur famille [French]
- Disability Statistics and Measurement: National Experiences and Opportunities for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, during the 47th session of the UN Statistical Commission
- Disability and Statistics: Disability-inclusive design, planning, monitoring and evaluation
- Guidelines and Principles for the Development of Disability Statistics
- Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses
- Washington Group on Disability Statistics (see also Washington Group on Disability Statistics (US-CDC))
- World Bank: Data and Statistics on Disability
- ILO: Statistics on the employment situation of people with disabilities
Natural disasters and emergency situations
- Disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction and humanitarian action: an urgent global imperative: United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and the Progress Thereafter by the University of Tokyo
- Checklist and prototype/tool to assess progress on disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction and humanitarian actions by the University of Tokyo
- Disability-inclusive humanitarian action
- Consultative Forum on Global Strategy for DiDDR during 2017 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, 23 May 2017, Cancun, Mexico
- DESA/DSPD Event during the World Humanitarian Summit, 23-24 May 2016, Istanbul, Turkey.
- Nepal earthquake: Disability response and situation of persons with disabilities
- Disaster Preparedness for People with Disabilities
- Fire Safety & Disabilities Guide
- Realizing a disability-inclusive post-2015 disaster risk reduction strategy, 3WCDRR Third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, 14-18 March 2015, Sendai, Japan.
- Taking action toward a disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction framework and its implementation, UN-DESA/DSPD Public Forum, 15 March, Tohoku University
- Inclusion saves lives: Ensuring the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all aspects of disaster risk reduction efforts can save lives
- United Nations Expert Group Meeting on Mental Well-being, Disability and Disaster Risk Reduction, UNU Headquarters, Tokyo, Japan (27–28 November 2014)
- Disability, natural disasters and emergency situations
- Risk Reduction and Adaptation for East Africa: A step by step approach. Save the Children International, June 2013
- Bonn Declaration (November 2007)
- Emergency Management Research and People With Disabilities: A Resource Guide by U.S.A. Department of Education (April 2008)
- World Disasters Report 2007: Focus on Discrimination by International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
- Disabilities Among Refugees and Conflict-Affected Population / Resource Kit Fieldworkers by Women”s Commission from Refugee Women and Children (June 2008)
Parliamentarians
- Handbook for Parliamentarians on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol: From Exclusion to Equality, Realizing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (PDF version also available in French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, and Nepali)
Sports and leisure
- Disability and Sports
- Agitos Foundation
- The Guide to Buying Used Accessible Vehicles
- Panel Discussion on Sports for Inclusive Development: Sports, Disability and Development: Key to empowerment of persons with disabilities and their communities, United Nations Headquarters, New York, 27 June 2011.
Urban Development
- Forum on Ways forward Towards a Disability Inclusive and Accessible New Urban Agenda
- Disability and Sustainable Urban Development
- Briefing Note on Disability and Sustainable Urban Development
Women and girls with disabilities
- Making the SDGs count for women and girls with disabilities
- Women and girls with disabilities
- UN Women: Making the SDGs count for women and girls with disabilities
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopts General Comment on Article 6: Women and Girls with Disabilities (adopted 26 August 2016)
- Vulnerability- and resilience-based approaches in response to the Syrian crisis: Implications for women, children, and youth with disabilities, Women’s Refugee Commission, February 2017.
- Factsheet on women and girls with disabilities
- WomenWatch: Information and Resources on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women [last updated 2010]
- Disability Rights, Gender, and Development: A Resources Tool for Action by Wellesley Centers For Women (2008)
- Women With Disability The Human Right to Health: A Policy Paper (May 2010)
- When society does nor see, hear or understand: Gender-related violence and disability (2016, Nordiskt Samarbete)
Youth
- Youth with disabilities
- Including youth with disabilities in development: Interactive discussion on 25 July 2011. Side-event to High-Level Meeting on Youth (25 – 26 July 2011), UN Headquarters, New York
- UNICEF – Voices of Youth
- Youth at the United Nations: Youth and Disability
- No Barriers No Borders – Mixed-Ability Projects
- Investing in Youth with Disabilities – Disability Rights Fund
- Children with Aspergers: Developing Social Skills at Home and School
- The Guide to Securing Life-Long Accommodations for Adult Children with Special Needs
(Disclaimer: Some documents and links included below are not from the United Nations and are provided for informational purposes only they do not constitute endorsement of or an approval by the United Nations of any of the products, services, or opinions of the corporation, organization, or individual. The United Nations bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the documents.)
