UNITED NATIONS THIRD COMMITTEE: INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
STATEMENT BY PATRICK BATES, POLICY SUPPORT OFFICER, PERMANENT MISSION OF AUSTRALIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS
1 November 2024
Thank you Chair.
Australia thanks the Special Rapporteur for her report.
Australia is a strong, unwavering supporter of both the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals.
We are committed to ensuring no one is left behind, including people with disability.
In her report, the Special Rapporteur identifies four key barriers to the participation of people with disability in 2030 Agenda implementation: accessibility, capacity-building for organisations of people with disability, intersectional perspectives, and disability-disaggregated data.
Through a range of development investments, Australia is working with partners to address these four barriers. Access to affordable, high-quality assistive technology can transform lives. To support accessibility, Australia has partnered with the ATscale Global Partnership for Assistive Technology to screen school-aged children across the Pacific for vision, hearing and mobility needs, and to support their access to eyeglasses, hearing aids and mobility aids.
To support capacity-building, Australia has introduced performance indicators on disability equity across our development program. This includes measuring and reporting on the number of organisations of people with disability receiving capacity building support through our development investments.
We invest in a range of initiatives that support a diverse, representative disability rights movement. This includes providing core funding for the Pacific Disability Forum, which helps lift the voices and perspectives of people with disability from Pacific Island countries.
Finally, to address the lack of reliable disability data, Australia has partnered with UNICEF since 2014 to strengthen the availability and quality of data on children with disability, particularly in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Through enhanced data collection tools like the Child Functioning Module, UNICEF now estimates that 1 in 10 children globally have disability – higher than previously thought.
Special Rapporteur, some organisations of people with disability – particularly organisations representing those left furthest behind, such as people with psychosocial, cognitive or intellectual disability – often require significant capacity building supports to enable their full and meaningful participation in development processes.
We ask you: what are the most critical capacity gaps for these organisations? What can Member States help to address first?
Thank you.