Thesession focused on ways to help advance disability inclusion, includingamplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities.

On the eve of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities,observed on 3rd December, the United Nations Country Team in Bahrain conductedan internal leadership engagement session on Monday dedicatedto streamlining disability inclusion in the work of the United Nations inBahrain. 

"At the United Nations in Bahrain, we recognise the needfor participation, representation and inclusion of persons with disabilities atall levels, and their right to shape the conditions of their livesactively," said the United Nations Resident Coordinator in the Kingdom ofBahrain, Khaled El Mekwad. 

"The need to include persons with disabilities is moreapparent now than ever. The complete realisation of the human rights ofall persons with disabilities is an inalienable, integral and indivisible part ofuniversal human rights and fundamental freedoms," he said, highlightingthe United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy.

The strategy provides the foundation for sustainable and transformativeprogress on disability inclusion through all pillars of the work of the UnitedNations. 

The session underscored the importance of inclusion not only inpolicies affecting persons with disabilities but in all areas of the UnitedNations. 

Representatives from UN entities in Bahrain, attending virtuallyand in person, reflected on the various initiatives undertaken to strengthenthe participation and leadership of persons with disabilities, includingtraining programmes and forging partnerships to integrate and promotedisability inclusion.

The session also emphasized Bahrain's pioneering role in includingpersons with disabilities, underscoring that the Kingdom was one of the firstcountries to sign the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilitiesin 2007 (acceded in 2011). 

The United Nations and Bahrain have a long-standing cooperation indisability inclusion, including designing and implementing the Action Plan ofthe National Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2022-2026),launched by the Government in 2023.

The theme of the 2024 celebration is Amplifying the leadership ofpersons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future. Theleadership of persons with disabilities is epitomised by the global disabilityrights movement's slogan, "Nothing About Us Without Us". It connotesthe basic requirements of participation, representation, and inclusion andcalls for persons with disabilities to shape their living conditions actively.

"Persons with disabilities already disproportionately bear thebrunt of the crises scarring our world — from conflicts and climate disastersto poverty and inequalities — because of persistent discrimination, stigma, andbarriers to basic rights and services. But they are also often denied theirright to contribute to solutions to these crises," the United NationsSecretary-General António Guterres said in his message on the InternationalDay of Persons with Disabilities.

He recalled that at the recently adopted Pact for the Future, heldin September at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the world'scountries committed to correcting this injustice for persons with disabilitiesof all ages, for present and future generations.

"On this important day, and every day, let's work with personswith disabilities to achieve an inclusive and sustainable future for allpeople," Mr Guterres said.