UN conference to focus on ways of improving lives of people with disabilities

From the UN News Centre

6 September 2011 – Hundreds of delegates from governments and civil society will gather at United Nations in New York tomorrow to discuss ways to improve the lives and well-being of people with disabilities by addressing some of the challenges they face, including unemployment.

The three-day Fourth Session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will bring together up to 500 delegates, including 78 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with more than 300 representatives, under the theme “Enabling Development, Realizing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.”

Ronald Clive McCallum, the chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities stressed, at a news conference at UN Headquarters, the need to provide employment opportunities for people with disabilities to help them support themselves and give them the opportunity to use their talents for the larger good of society.

“It is only through employment that we can play full roles as citizens in our countries. It is only through employment that we can use our talents to contribute to the better of society. It is only through employment that we can support ourselves and our families,” said Mr. McCallum, who has a visual disability himself.

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