On November 1, 2024, Mr. Hyeonjae Kim, Diplomatic Trainee, delivered a statement at the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee on the topic of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Opening the session, Ms. Heba Hagrass, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, presented her report. She noted the slow progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and highlighted that persons with disabilities remain among the most marginalised groups. Despite global commitments to “leave no one behind,” Ms. Hagrass emphasised that the voices of 1.3 billion persons with disabilities worldwide are still too often excluded from policy discussions that shape their lives.
The Special Rapporteur stressed that persons with disabilities disproportionately bear the burden of global challenges, including growing inequalities, conflicts, climate change, and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the 2030 Agenda provides a framework to address these issues and fulfill the transformative potential of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, she noted that, with only six years remaining, progress has been insufficient. Of the SDG targets concerning persons with disabilities, only five indicators are on track.
Ms. Hagrass outlined significant barriers identified in her report, including inaccessible consultation mechanisms, limited disability-disaggregated data, and inadequate capacity-building efforts to create opportunities for persons with disabilities. She criticised the tendency to merely mention persons with disabilities as a vulnerable group, arguing that disability-specific progress should be addressed comprehensively across all SDG goals.
Additional obstacles include a lack of accessibility and insufficient funding for grassroots organisations to participate in meaningful consultation processes. To overcome these challenges, Ms. Hagrass proposed concrete recommendations, such as establishing accessible consultation platforms, providing independent funding for organisations of persons with disabilities, and integrating persons with disabilities into national and subnational SDG monitoring bodies.
The Special Rapporteur also called on the United Nations to strengthen its disability inclusion commitments. She urged the acceleration of the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy, particularly at the country level, to ensure that member states’ SDG reviews are fully inclusive.
Concluding her address, Ms. Hagrass appealed to member states to keep the rights of persons with disabilities central to future development agendas. She warned that the actions taken today will determine whether the next generation of persons with disabilities can fully realise their human rights, emphasising that “the time to act is now.”
In his statement, Mr. Kim acknowledged the growing global recognition of the dignity and rights of persons with disabilities, emphasising the progress that has been achieved through frameworks like the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. He stressed the moral obligation to include persons with disabilities in all societal discussions, not just those concerning their specific needs, to ensure inclusivity and representativeness.
Citing Pope Francis, Mr. Kim underscored the intrinsic worth and dignity of individuals with disabilities, regardless of their limitations, and called for society to take special responsibility for its most vulnerable members.
Mr. Kim drew attention to the Sovereign Order of Malta’s own initiatives, including regional summer camps for youth with severe disabilities that promote equality and inclusion, as well other projects with dedicated teams of workers and volunteers who assist disabled individuals in conflict zones and crisis areas such as Ukraine, Syria, Myanmar, Palestine, South Sudan, and Haiti, reflecting the Order’s commitment to supporting persons with disabilities globally.
