Although persons with disabilities represent a sizeable 16 per cent of the world’s population, they still experience a range of health inequities, including premature deaths, poorer health outcomes, and higher disease risk when compared to the general population.

Addressing the Global Disability Summit in Berlin in a video message on Monday, Ms. Mohammed said that providing opportunities to people with disabilities “is a matter of dignity, of humanity, of human rights,” adding that it is a test not only of “our common values,” but also “plain common sense.”

Conflict zones

The Deputy Secretary-General highlighted the vulnerability of people living in conflict areas such as Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, noting that Gaza now has the highest number of child amputees in modern history.

“Too often, persons with disabilities also face inaccessible evacuation routes, shelters, and services – an assault on their human rights and dignity,” she said.

UN research shows that they are often among the first casualties in conflict.

The UN deputy chief focused on a young Palestinian woman called Mai, working for the United Nations in Gaza, who “did not let her muscular dystrophy or her wheelchair confine her dreams.”

Mai, a top student, became a software developer for the UN, “bringing skill and determination to all she did,” but in November 2023, Ms. Mohammed said, “she was killed along with her family,” adding that her story still weighs heavily on our hearts.”

Internationally protected rights

The rights of people living with disabilities are protected by a treaty adopted in 2006 at the United Nations.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is recognized as the first comprehensive human rights treaty of the 21st century which “clarifies and qualifies how all categories of rights apply to persons with disabilities and identifies areas where adaptations have to be made for persons with disabilities to effectively exercise their rights.”

In the wake of the Convention, nearly 90 per cent of developing countries have laws or policies protecting education for persons with disabilities, yet only about one-third of those countries have accessible schools.

Half of all people with disabilities in the same countries face inaccessible transportation.

“Behind these figures are people,” said Ms Mohammed.

“Children shut out of classrooms. Adults who cannot get to work. Families denied essential services. This must change. And we must all be part of it.”

The Global Disability Summit 2025 is taking place in Berlin from 2-3 April and is expected to bring some 4,000 people together. It has been organized by the governments of Jordan and Germany in collaboration with the International Disability Alliance.

One significant outcome is expected to be the “Amman-Berlin Declaration on Global Disability Inclusion.”