Your Excellency Mr. K?r?si, President of the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly,
Madame Chairperson of the Conference,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good afternoon.
It is my pleasure to join you today in the margins of the 16th session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
I thank the President of the General Assembly for his leadership in convening this meeting to discuss how we are ¡°Promoting and mainstreaming easy-to-understand communication for accessibility for persons with disabilities¡±.
This reflects your support of the effort by the 51³Ô¹Ï and countries to make communication more accessible to persons with disabilities.
Accessible communication is crucial not only for accessing and delivering information, but also for people to participate fully in society and to live independently. Yet the participation of persons with intellectual and learning disabilities in decision-making processes is often hindered by a lack of accessible communication.
The freedom to seek, receive and impart information on an equal basis with others and through all forms of communication of a person¡¯s choice is a basic human right. This has been affirmed by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Upholding this right requires that the forms of communication used to disseminate public information are accessible to all, including persons with disabilities.
Barriers to communication can negatively impact all aspects of life, from education and health care to political participation and access to justice.
Through easy-to-understand communication, persons with intellectual or learning disabilities can access and deliver information more effectively.
Easy-to-understand communication is also key for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and fulfilling the promise that no one will be left behind.
In response to General Assembly resolution 77/240, my department has been conducting a study on promoting and mainstreaming easy-to-understand communication for persons with disabilities. The findings will be presented in a report of the Secretary-General to be delivered to the General Assembly later this year.
In the meantime, I wish to share some thoughts based on preliminary findings of this work.
First, several countries and 51³Ô¹Ï entities have already produced documents in easy-to-understand formats. This work has generally been developed in consultation with persons with disabilities and their representative organizations.
On this note, I am happy to share that the programme of the 16th session of the Conference of States Parties is available in easy-to-understand communication.
Second, among the existing formats of accessible communication, the easy-to-understand format remains one of the least available. Both in countries and in UN entities, it is produced or used less often than accessible doc, accessible pdf, sign language or captioning services.
Third, a lack of financial resources remains the principal barrier to increase the use of easy-to-understand communication. This is true across the board and especially for poorer countries.
Greater political commitment and funding are needed at national levels and within the UN system to advance wider use of easy-to-understand communication. Establishing specific requirements and targets for the use of such formats could help to drive progress.
Excellencies,
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provides a framework to create an inclusive world in which all people can communicate, access and receive information. Wider use of easy-to-understand communication is an essential element of its implementation.
This year marks the midpoint for implementation of the 2030 Agenda. When Member States renew their commitments and actions at the SDG Summit this September, I hope you will continue to promote this form of communication and make it a common feature of meetings held at the UN. We must ensure that persons with disabilities can participate in major UN processes that affect them.
It is also my great hope that poor countries will receive support to build their capacity to produce and use easy-to-understand communication in their national languages. This is essential to ensure the accessible communication for all.
Today¡¯s meeting is an opportunity to work together and share views on how to move forward with this work. I look forward to your substantive and fruitful discussions today.
Thank you.