Dr Abdul Hameed, Dean, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, UMT, joined top policy makers and activists from around the world at a major international conference to help create a future where people with disabilities are at the heart of education, employment, and international development program.
Dr Abdul Hameed joined delegates from over 50 countries at the Disability-Inclusive MDGs and Aid Effectiveness Conference held in Bangkok, Thailand from March 14-16, 2012. LCDDP is also a member of the Leonard Cheshire Disability Global Alliance, a network of disability organizations in 54 countries.
For three days high-level representatives of the UN and World Bank came together with campaigners and organizations such as LCDDP, and discussed how to make disability central to international development. Crucially, they explored ‘what next’ when the UN’s Millennium Development Goals come to an end in 2015.
Commenting on the outcome of the conference, Dr Abdul Hameed said, “In every country in the world, people with disabilities are likely to be the poorest members of society, yet they are also the most likely to be forgotten in education, employment and aid programs. I am delighted to have taken part in this conference that will lead to real actions and real future change."
The conference was co-organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and Leonard Cheshire Disability.
It may be noted that in almost every country surveyed, unemployment rates for persons with disabilities are higher than for those without disabilities. Of the 67 million children now out of school worldwide, a third have disabilities. Despite these shocking statistics, there was no mention of persons with disabilities in the UN’s blueprint for international development, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) when they were first launched in 2000. This was only rectified ten years later.
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