IDPP at UN Habitat III: Contributing to a Disability-Inclusive New Urban Agenda

An IDPP delegation is actively participating in the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) from 15-21 October 2016 in Quito, Ecuador. IDPP’s multifaceted contributions include: presenting at and facilitating accessible remote participation for the “Ecuador High Level Meeting and Forum on Disability Inclusion and Accessible Urban Development” hosted by UN DESA/DSPD on 16 October; and jointly convening the Persons with Disabilities Stakeholder Roundtable “Urbanization as Catalyst for Disability Inclusive Development” on 19 October.

The IDPP delegation to this conference of nearly 50,000 registrants includes: Executive Director and American University School of International Service Associate Professor Dr. Derrick Cogburn; IDPP Program Manager of the Disability Inclusive Development Policy Collaboratory Mr. Robert Guerra; IDPP Research Coordinator and Senior Advocacy Officer at World Vision Cambodia Mr. Khy Huy; and IDPP Senior Doctoral Fellow and AU Doctoral Candidate Mr. Mohammed Ali Loutfy, who also serves as Executive Director of Disabled People's International - Arab Region and the Arab Forum for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

On 16 October from 1:00pm-5:30pm Quito time, Dr. Derrick Cogburn presents during the “Ecuador High Level Meeting and Forum on Disability Inclusion and Accessible Urban Development” organized by UN DESA/DSPD, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development of Ecuador, and Habitat III taking place in Room A of the UN Pavilion.

The Forum opens with Master of Ceremony Ms. Daniela Bas of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) / Division for Social and Policy Development (DSPD) and opening addresses by Mr. Hongbo Wu of UN DESA; Ms. Maria de los Angeles Duarte of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development of Ecuador; Mr. Yohei Sasakawa, Chairman of The Nippon Foundation; and Mr. Lenin Moreno, the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy on Disability and Accessibility, among others.

Dr. Cogburn speaks on "Innovations through Multistakeholder Partnerships" during Part I: Ways Forward to Implement the New Urban Agenda and Promote Inclusive and Accessible Urban Development for All of Session II: Taking Actions to Make the New Urban Agenda Inclusive, Accessible and Sustainable.

He highlights IDPP’s Disability Inclusive Development Policy Collaboratory, supported by The Nippon Foundation, which has been facilitating the global multistakeholder Disability Inclusive and Accessible Urban Development (DIAUD) Network and has enabled concerted disability-inclusive efforts to Habitat III. These successful efforts include the New Urban Agenda’s stand-alone paragraph on disability and 14 references to persons with disabilities, as well as persons with disabilities becoming an official major stakeholder group of Habitat III through the Persons with Disabilities Partner Constituency Group of the General Assembly of Partners.

Moderated by Ms. Akiko Ito, Chief Secretariat of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at UN DESA/DSPD, Parts I and II of Session II also includes a key presentation by IDPP Joint Advisory Board Chair Amb. Luis Gallegos, and remarks by IDPP Senior Doctoral Fellow Mr. Mohammed Ali Loutfy; IDPP International Advisory Board Chair Dr. Victor Pineda; Mr. Yasunobu Ishii and Mr. John Honney of The Nippon Foundation; and Ms. Susan Parker of Rehabilitation International, among others.

IDPP is facilitating accessible remote participation for this High Level Meeting and Forum. This collaborative initiative is in line with IDPP’s Accessible Global Governance research, supported by The Nippon Foundation, which studies the factors that enhance or limit the participation of persons with disabilities in the UN system, its meetings and events, as well as broader global governance processes.

The DESA Forum is attended by approximately 150 high-level experts and representatives of government agencies, local authorities, the private sector, civil society, academia, and the UN system, working in the field of disability-inclusion and accessible urban development. The Forum aims to promote the world´s urban development to be inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities, as well as to contribute to the emerging New Urban Agenda and its implementation.

Also on 16 October, the DIAUD Network announces the launch of a new joint publication “The Inclusion Imperative: Towards Disability-Inclusive and Accessible Urban Development” that World Enabled and CBM have produced in collaboration with DIAUD members, including coordination support from IDPP and its Disability Inclusive Development Policy Collaboratory.

This innovative publication presents examples of disability-inclusive urban development, features the voices of people with disabilities claiming their rights as well as key recommendations to help ensure that cities respond to the needs of everyone, including persons with disabilities.

On 19 October from 4:30pm-6:30pm, IDPP is jointly convening the Persons with Disabilities Stakeholder Roundtable “Urbanization as a Catalyst for Disability Inclusive Development” at the National Library in Casa de la Cultura. Dr. Derrick Cogburn will moderate the roundtable, and IDPP representatives will speak at and facilitate accessible remote participation.

Accessible Remote Participation:

Persons with Disabilities Stakeholder Roundtable
“Urbanization as Catalyst for Disability Inclusive Development”

October 19, 4:30pm – 6:30pm Quito Time

Recording: Persons with Disabilities Stakeholder Roundtable

Moderator:

Dr. Derrick L. Cogburn, Executive Director, IDPP and Associate Professor, School of International Service, American University

In-Person and Virtual Speakers:

  • Ambassador Luis Gallegos, Joint Advisory Board Chair, IDPP; Chairman, G3ICT; Special Advisor, The Nippon Foundation
  • Ms. Akiko Ito, Chief Secretariat, Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, DESA/DSPD, United Nations
  • Dr. Victor Pineda, Executive Director, World Enabled/Pineda Foundation and Co-Chair, Habitat III General Assembly of Partners Persons with Disabilities Partner Constituency Group
  • Mr. Khy Huy, Research Coordinator, IDPP; Senior Advocacy Officer, World Vision Cambodia
  • Mr. Mohammed Ali Loutfy, Senior Doctoral Fellow, IDPP; Doctoral Candidate, Department of Anthropology, College of Arts & Sciences, American University; Executive Director, Disabled People's International - Arab Region and the Arab Forum for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
  • Mr. Toshiya Kakiuchi, President, Mirairo Inc.
  • Ms. Risnawati Utami, Executive Director, Ohana
  • Mr. Ambrose Murangira, Executive Director, Uganda National Association of the Deaf
  • Dr. Takashi Izutsu, Program and Knowledge Coordinator/Senior Knowledge Management Officer, World Bank’s Tokyo Development Learning Center
  • Mr. Pong Cruz, Alumnus, IDPP Fellowship Program; Senior Analyst, G3ICT
  • Mrs. Silvia Perel-Levin, Chair, NGO Committee on Ageing, United Nations at Geneva
  • Ms. Ana Lucia Arellano, First Vice Chair, International Disability Alliance; President, Latin America Network of Non-Governmental Organizations of Persons with Disabilities and their Families

The Persons with Disabilities Stakeholder Roundtable aims to:

  • Improve the overall participation and engagement of persons with disabilities in the implementation and monitoring of the New Urban Agenda.
  • Recommend and implement measures to enhance the participation of persons with disabilities in the New Urban Agenda and broaden disability-inclusive development initiatives through an expanded use of accessible information and communication technologies to enable enhanced and diversified physical and virtual participation.
  • Recommend and implement strategies to engage national, regional, and local authorities, civil society and other stakeholders in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda to ensure that all stages of urban development are inclusive and accessible for persons with disabilities.
  • Ensure the implementation of the New Urban Agenda is consistent with and supportive of other major global initiatives related to persons with disabilities, including Sustainable Development Goals, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and WSIS+10.

The New Urban Agenda will set the global policy framework for inclusive and sustainable urban development for the next 20 years. For the estimated one billion persons with disabilities across the world, towns, and cities often present a combination of physical, environmental, and social barriers. Implementation of the New Urban Agenda will set global standards for sustainable urban development that transform the way cities are built, managed, and lived in.

Habitat III and the New Urban Agenda provides a historic opportunity to advance disability-inclusive development, and to achieve the goal of the United Nations in the field of disability: the full and effective participation of persons with disabilities as beneficiaries and change agents.