Statement by the UN Resident Coordinator at the IDPWD symposium

• Your Worship, Muhammed Krubally, Chairperson of the Gambia Federation of the Disabled (GFD) and all DPOs present
• Honourable National Assembly Members present
• Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology
• Civil Society organisations
• UN Colleagues

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen

I am delighted to be part of this important symposium hosted by the Gambia Federation of the Disabled (GFD) to celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

I would like to start by expressing my sincere gratitude to the GFD for organizing and inviting me to this event.

The UN in the Gambia joins you in celebrating this day whose theme is Building back better: towards an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 world by, for and with persons with disabilities". The UN in The Gambia strives to ensure its  efforts to building back better, safeguards the participation and inclusion of Persons with Disabilities throughout  The Gambia not only in urban areas but to extend support to those in  rural areas as well, to ensure no one is left behind.

Ladies and Gentlemen

The UN stands firm in upholding human rights principles premised on equality and non-discrimination.

Furthermore, disability inclusion is an essential condition for sustainable development, and peace and security. It is also central to the promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to leave no one behind.

It is in this regard that the UN in The Gambia has endeavored to ensure full support to advocating for the rights of Persons with Disabilities. We have formed an existing partnership with the Gambia Federation of The Disabled. The UN in The Gambia, together with other stakeholders has also supported Persons with Disabilities in various areas, including but not limited to:

1. Human Rights and Transitional Justice

The UN has provided technical assistance in advocacy for the rights of PWDs, including support towards the passing of relevant law that will enable domestication of its international obligations. We, applaud The Gambia’s ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and strongly advocate for the passing of legislation that domesticates the CRPD to ensure that the tenants and principles of the CRPD are nationalized and that the rights of persons with disabilities are respected, promoted and protected.

We have also collaborated with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and the Department of Social Welfare, the National Youth Council, Child Protection Alliance and the Gambia Centre for Victims of Human Rights Violations to ensure the inclusion of children with disabilities in sensitizing children and youth on transitional justice issues, resulting in the development of a child friendly version of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) Act.

2. Migration

The UN in The Gambia has collaborated with the Ministry of Health and other organisations including community organisations to ensure holistic reintegration of Gambian returnees including those with mental health conditions and provides support that includes capacity building for government and non-governmental (health care and non-health care) stakeholders in the area of psychological first aid (PFA).

3. Education

The UN has supported disability inclusive service delivery for schools, for children with disabilities. This included WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) services that are gender responsive in schools and inclusive of needs of persons with disabilities, including the construction of toilets with access ramps and separate cubicles for children with disabilities to access. The need to have teachers with the requisite special need skills has made the UN invest in training of teachers to equip them to respond with respect, dignity and care.

4. Women and girls with disabilities

During this COVID 19 period, the UN supports women and girls with disabilities who are victims of abuse through the GBV Helpline. The UN has a project specifically targeting Persons with Disabilities to receive support under One-Stop centers and shelters as well as the GBV Helpline.

Ladies and Gentlemen

In our UN planning, we systematically involve organisations of persons with disabilities in activities of joint programs, for example planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. During the development of the current Common Country Assessment in 2020, organisations of persons with disabilities were consulted through focus group discussions that will enable us to obtain further information on their issues. Furthermore, the UN has tracked progress, through monitoring, towards the results agreed in the UNDAF, and help to make mid-term corrections for disability mainstreaming.

The UN in the Gambia has therefore prioritized:

1. Participation and inclusion –Support in ensuring participation and inclusion in decision-making processes that affect PwDs, particularly underrepresented women and children to ensure they are not left behind.
2. Accountability and Governance – Support in advancing the domestication of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 
3. Access to services – support in ensuring more access to services by addressing social and environmental challenges hindering PWDs from accessing services such as health care including sexual reproductive health care services for disabled women, education and social protection services. 
4. Accessibility – support in addressing accessibility issues that hinder PWDs’ ability to actively participate in decision-making processes.
5. Equality and non - discrimination - support in addressing negative stereotypes, stigma and discrimination as PwDs are subjected to negative stereotypes, stigma and discrimination. 

Ladies and Gentlemen

I also take this opportunity to inform you of the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy launched in 2019. This strategy provides the foundation for sustainable and transformative progress on disability inclusion through all pillars of the work of the United Nations in The Gambia including in ensuring The UN itself is Disability friendly and complaint. Through the Strategy, the United Nations in The Gambia reaffirms that the full realization of the human rights of all persons with disabilities is an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

In conclusion, the UN remains fully committed to the agenda of supporting the rights of persons with disabilities and will significantly contribute to the realization of their rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

I thank you once again and congratulate you on successful celebrations. 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION