We talk a lot about people who have disabilities and the importance of visibility for these people,
so of course we’d like to take a few minutes to discuss International Day of Persons with
Disabilities.
It is a very specific event and it has a lot of meaning for us because it finally helps to shed light
on the many struggles that people with a disability face all the time. For us, at least, one of the
hardest things to do with people who have a disability is to get them noticed.
Thankfully, events like this help to push people with disabilities back into the spotlight and
encourage people to look more carefully at the kind of societal challenges that they face.
One of the big players in this type of event is the World Health Organization. They work with
people around the world to create what they call sustainable development goals for people with
disabilities.
It is estimated that around 1.3bn people live with significant disability. This accounts for up to
16% of the global population. A lot of people who have a disability are at risk of developing
health problems or dying earlier due to complications from their disability. They often experience
challenges in everyday life that able-bodied people wouldn’t even consider.
Awareness of these conditions is often the best thing that can happen because by putting
disabled people into the spotlight, their issues are put back into the forefront of decision-making
around the world. It’s safe to say that it is a powerful tool for publicity and attention on the global
stage.
Now, we want to point out that we don’t approve of outright glamorizing people with disabilities.
We have to be careful that we don’t accidentally turn disability into something that can be
glorified or romanticized. Days like this are good for awareness, but they have to be tempered
with the promise of real change behind it.
We need to see more countries pledging they’ll be part of initiatives and offerings to help us
make meaningful changes. We need to see disabled people being asked for their opinions on
what can be done and getting real input from them. These are all key things that will make such
a difference, and they can help to drive forward a new narrative for people.
Overall, we do like days like this, and we hope to see more of them in the future. However, we
also want to see some meaningful change as well, because that’s the most important part of all
of it – it’s no use having days where disabled people are focused on if we are then not making
any meaningful steps towards helping them. There’s still a lot of inequality to tackle and the only
way we can tackle it is to focus on looking at new and exciting ways to help people. It’s an
ongoing process, but one which is possible if we all work together and focus on a single goal.