Global Disability Summit

©CBM

On 24th July, a Global Disability Summit will take place in London, co-hosted by the UK Government, the Government of Kenya and the International Disability Alliance. Around the world, CBM partners have been contributing to preparations for the event, which will bring together more than 700 delegates from governments, companies, charities and disabled people’s organisations.

The aim of the Summit is to focus global attention on the need to build a more inclusive world, mobilise new global and national commitments and showcase good practice, innovation and evidence.

As governments prepare for the summit, CBM has been contributing expertise and examples of good practice at national events around the world.

From Kenya, CBM Programme Manager  Nerea Thigo reports:  

“We were part of the planning committee for the Kenyan Government’s pre-summit on 24th May, which aimed to opportunity for stakeholders to engage on a self-assessment in regard to commitment to disability inclusion, share stories of success, identify gaps and come up with measures and commitments to address these gaps. The outcome of the pre-summit was to develop consensus on commitments the government would like to consider."

"We also worked with Save the Children International to help bring the voices of children with disabilities to the pre-summit and we hope that these will be raised at the London summit too and incorporated into the final commitments.”

In Pakistan, two staff from CBM participated in a consultation workshop on 27-28 June to help compile recommendations for the summit. CBM contributed to two panel discussions on stigma and discrimination and harnessing innovation. Country Director Farrah Naz reports:

"The key contribution to the recommendations was around supporting persons with disabilities to get equitable opportunities of education, training and employment which will increase their self-worth and people will not see them as a burden. This will create positive examples and help overcome stigma and discrimination against them. On harnessing innovation input was given on use of technology to overcome communication barrier for hard of hearing and deaf people especially in health services, law enforcement offices and use of video chat for sign language interpretation on helplines."

In Rwanda, CBM attended the summit on 26 June and moderated a panel on the use of technology and innovation for disability-inclusion.


Summit themes

The Summit and the agreed commitments that come out of it will focus on the following key areas:

  • Dignity and Respect for all - ending stigma and discrimination
  • Inclusion in education
  • Routes to economic empowerment
  • Harnessing technology and innovation
  • Humanitarian assistance
  • Gender


Ahead of the summit, working groups have been set up to help shape the discussions and commitments on these areas. CBM’s network of global advisors have been involved in all of these groups, sharing expertise and the learning from over a century’s work with people with disabilities in the world’s poorest places.

As well as participating in the Global Disability Summit and Civil Society Forum, CBM will be exhibiting at the Summit Market Place, demonstrating our mobile app to promote disability-inclusive disaster response, the Hands On Humanitarian Tool, and highlighting mental health as part of the Bond Mental Health sub-group. Look out for regular updates before, during and after the summit on CBM UK's blog and via Facebook and Twitter.