11/06/2026
Nearly 20 years after the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), persons with disabilities—representing approximately 15 percent of the global population—continue to face significant barriers to education, employment, healthcare, and political participation. The promise of the 2030 Agenda to “leave no one behind” cannot be fulfilled without their full and meaningful .
On June 8, on the margins of the Conference of States Parties to the CRPD ( ), the Multilateral Dialogue Geneva together with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) New York Office hosted the New York launch of Ensuring Dignity, Realising Rights: Strengthening the Rights of Persons with Disabilities through the UN Human Rights System, our latest report produced together with the Universal Rights Group (URG). The event brought together representatives from Member States, the United Nations, civil society, and organizations of persons with disabilities to discuss the report’s findings and their implications for advancing disability rights globally.
The discussion featured keynote remarks by Behindertenbeauftragter der Bundesregierung - Jürgen Dusel, Federal Government Commissioner for Matters Relating to Persons with Disabilities of Germany, and Claudia Fuentes Julio, Assistant Secretary-General for United Nations Human Rights. Marc Limon, Executive Director of URG, presented the report and its key findings.
Drawing on nearly 16,000 disability-related recommendations issued by UN human rights mechanisms between 2007 and 2025, the report examines how effectively the international human rights system is translating commitments into tangible improvements in the lives of persons with disabilities. While the findings point to meaningful progress since the adoption of the CRPD, they also highlight persistent implementation gaps across areas such as accessibility, education, political participation, protection from violence, and the rights of women and girls with disabilities.
Participants reflected on the gap between commitments and implementation and discussed how governments, UN entities, organizations of persons with disabilities, and civil society can work together to strengthen accountability and advance implementation at the national level. Among the report’s findings is that recommendations concerning the rights of persons with disabilities are implemented at lower rates than recommendations relating to many other rights-holders, underscoring the need for stronger institutional support and sustained political commitment.
A central message emerged from the discussion: persons with disabilities must be at the center of every decision-making process that affects them. Their meaningful participation is not only a fundamental right—it is also essential to building more inclusive societies and achieving progress across human rights, development, and governance.
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