
New publication connects persons with disabilities and the SDGs
Mainstreaming disability into all of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be essential to achieve these goals. Persons with disabilities need urgently to be able to access social protection, education, employment, basic services, inclusive access to water and sanitation, including accessible toilets.
This is the conclusion from the findings and figures presented in the very first publication of its kind on “Realizing the SDGs by, for and with persons with disabilities,” produced by UN DESA, and which will be launched on 3 December during the commemoration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Some of the key findings from the publication – which connects persons with disabilities with the 17 SDGs – reveal:
- That in many developing countries, households with persons with disabilities are less likely to have access to electricity than those without persons with disabilities.
- That women with disabilities are less likely to be employed than men with disabilities.
- Employed persons with disabilities tend to earn lower wages than persons without disabilities. Wage gaps wider than 10 per cent have been reported. Lack of accessibility and reasonable accommodation can pose further obstacles. In eight developing countries, an average of 32 per cent of persons with disabilities report that their workplace is hindering or not accessible.
- Among six developing countries, 46 per cent of persons with disabilities reported having experienced discrimination; in two of those countries, 17 per cent of persons with disabilities reported being discriminated against in public services.
- Crowdsourced data, mostly from developed countries indicated that, in 2017, 32 per cent of public transportation facilities were not accessible. Businesses and public places can also be a challenge. In some countries, more than 25 per cent of persons with disabilities consider banks, shops and post offices hindering or not accessible.
- According to crowdsourced accessibility data, out of over 20,000 public leisure facilities analyzed in various countries, mostly in developed regions, half were considered not accessible for persons with wheelchairs.
- In five developing countries, on average, 30 per cent of persons with disabilities indicated that the courts and police stations were not accessible.
- At least 120 out of 214 countries or areas that conducted a census during the 2010 round included a set of questions on disability, a significant increase from the approximately 19 countries or areas that had included such questions during the 1970 census round.
The new publication will become available on the website of UN DESA’s Division for Inclusive Social Development.
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