International Day for Persons with Disabilities

Saturday, December 3, is International Day for Persons with Disabilities 2022. This day was proclaimed by the United Nations in 1992.

The goal of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities is to promote understanding of and support for persons with disabilities, including their rights, dignity, and well-being.

How to mark International Day for Persons with Disabilities 2022

You can participate by making positive changes in your workplace and everyday life.

Celebrate the day in your workplace by hosting a training session. Educate employees to cultivate accessibility and an inclusive culture. A disability awareness training session can improve customer service, reduce the risk of unfair treatment, reduce bias, validate disabled staff, and encourage communication.
Recognize neurodiversity by learning about Autism, ADHD, Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia, and Tourette’s Syndrome. Enable a workplace that reduces the stigma and encourages the strengths of neurodiversity.
Hire a speaker whose experiences will inspire employees.
Donate to disability charities.

International Day for Persons with Disabilities 2022

The theme of International Day for Persons with Disabilities 2022 is “Transformative solutions for inclusive development: The role of innovation in fueling an accessible and equitable world.” The New York commemoration will take place Monday, December 5, 2022, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm as a virtual Zoom meeting.

The three topics to be discussed during the commemoration will be:

Innovation for disability inclusive development in employment (Sustainable Development Goal 8)

The links between employment and the knowledge and skills required to access it in a changing, innovative, and technological landscape will be discussed. How the integration of assistive technologies into the mainstream workplace can increase employment will be considered.

The UN Sustainable Development Goal 8 is to “Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.”

This key area is a timely theme. Inclusive and sustained economic growth can create decent jobs, drive progress, and improve living standards, but COVID-19 has disrupted the global economy. The International Monetary Fund anticipates a global recession that could be as bad as 2009. According to the International Labor Organization, almost half of the global workforce risks losing their jobs.

Innovation for disability inclusive development in reducing inequality (Sustainable Development Goal 10)

There will be a dialogue about how innovations, good practices, and practical tools can reduce inequalities in the private and public sectors. How both are disability inclusive and promote diversity in the workplace will be discussed.

The UN Sustainable Development Goal 10 is to “Reduce inequality within and among countries.”

The COVID-19 pandemic is reversing trends of reduced income inequality; 2021 saw the highest recorded number of migrant deaths and refugees, and the war in Ukraine has created one of the largest refugee crises in recent history.