Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the International Disability Alliance, the Government of Norway, and the Government of Ghana for hosting this second Global Disability Summit.

Remarkably, 4 out of every 5 people with disabilities live in developing countries today.

Even before the pandemic hit, persons with disabilities were also subject to marginalisation, they were more likely to live in poverty and experience higher rates of violence, neglect and abuse.

The pandemic has brought a host of new challenges, including a sharp increase in poverty -- with hunger threatening lives, alongside the virus.

We also witnessed increased discrimination and abuse - especially against women and girls with disabilities.

As the UN’s development organisation, the United Nations Development Programme has a clear mandate to support and champion disability-inclusive development.

We do so by mainstreaming disability inclusion across all areas of our work and by providing targeted support to member states.

Look, for instance, to Zambia and Suriname where UNDP is helping to ensure the participation of persons with disabilities in elections.

Or to Cambodia where UNDP has supported efforts to introduce a new Disability Law that will promote disability rights and reduce discrimination – opening new job opportunities, to just give one example.

We are also finding new ways to boost inclusion within UNDP, including a dedicated programme to provide new opportunities for young professionals with disabilities.

To drive forward inclusive development, this Global Disability Summit has focused on several key themes including meaningful engagement and community inclusion; and ‘building forward better’ towards an inclusive future, with a spotlight on gender, crisis and conflict.

With the Global Goals as our ‘guiding stars’, UNDP is proud to bring forward new commitments to the Summit that fully reflect this approach.

At their core is a strong focus on participatory, evidence-based programming that will tackle existing challenges as well as the new obstacles posed by the pandemic.

And we will continue to advance the United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities -- strengthening the capacity of Member States to realise the rights of persons with disabilities.

In short, persons with disabilities must be afforded a meaningful place at decision-making tables -- so that they can make the choices that will affect THEIR lives, towards that more inclusive, accessible world for all.