Cultural Performance “MY DREAM”, by China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe

– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Mrs. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the 73^rd Session of the UN General Assembly

6 November 2018

Cultural Performance “MY DREAM”

Your Excellency, MA Zhao Xu, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations;

Mr. Jia Yong, Vice Chairperson of China Disabled Persons Federation

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is such a pleasure to be here this evening and to have the opportunity to welcome this inspiring and talented group of people.

I would like to echo the sentiments of Ambassador MA and express my profound respect and appreciation to the Troupe.

Your remarkable record of touring more than 100 countries is an impressive achievement that should make you proud. For us in the United Nations, you are cultural ambassadors for goodwill among peoples, dignity and respect as well as inclusion. It is an honour to have you here performing for us tonight.

I particularly look forward to your dance premiere: “Never Stop Stepping”, which pays tribute to those who were disabled by war, disaster and diseases.

In a world so often filled with negative headlines and beset by challenges, you have chosen to inspire and motivate through art and beauty. As a poet myself, I admire your choice to use art in this way.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

There are an estimated 1.5 billion persons with disabilities in the world, the world’s largest minority. 85 million of those persons living with disabilities are in China. And as our world ages, the numbers of people living with disability will increase greatly.

In a UN dedicated to all people, everywhere, it is our obligation to make sure that all people have the opportunity to live a decent and meaningful life.

Making sure no one is left behind or excluded is not only morally right; it is the only way to expand opportunity and build thriving economies that benefit all. It is time to unlock the full potential of those living with disabilities – their skills, their capacities and their knowledge – an often-untapped resource that can surely help strengthen sustainable development efforts.

It is for these reasons that I have chosen ‘support to those with disabilities’ as one of the seven priorities of my Presidency.

I hope you will all join me in this regard.

Together, let us make sure we empower persons with disabilities to meaningfully contribute in politics, in science, in commerce and in the arts.

And tonight, let us celebrate the contribution of persons with disabilities to arts and advocacy.

As I conclude, I wish to pay tribute to the powerful and moving example of using the arts to promote peace among nations. I commend China for its leadership  in promoting this laudable initiative, as part of its Presidency of the Security Council.

Thank you and please enjoy the performance.