Global Disability Summit: HI Joins the Global Call for an Inclusive World

An estimated 1.3 billion people, or 16% of the world’s population, experience significant disability and often face discrimination and exclusion. The Global Disability Summit (GDS), to be held in Berlin on April 2-3, 2025, aims to promote disability rights and a more inclusive world. It will unite governments, donors, United Nations agencies, civil society, and private sector organizations.

HI, which has worked alongside people with disabilities for over 40 years, will attend the Summit to share its extensive experience promoting inclusion.

HI, a Global Player in Inclusion

Through its projects implemented in 59 countries worldwide, in stable and humanitarian contexts, HI supports people with disabilities through various activities, including physical and functional rehabilitation, health equity, protection, inclusive education, economic and social inclusion, and the overall promotion of disability rights.

After participating in the first two Global Disability Summits, HI will be seizing the opportunity of the 2025 GDS to showcase its partnerships with Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) in its countries of operation and to promote its successful actions and extensive expertise in the field of inclusion. HI will be reaffirming its unwavering commitment to promoting disability rights.

In 2023, HI supported:

• 536.309 persons with disabilities through rehabilitation services and assistive technologies,
• 858.769 through health services,
• 850.439 through social and inclusion services.

These achievements were made possible through collaborations with the 106 organizations of people with disabilities (OPDs) with which HI worked in 2023.

Blandine Bouniol, HI Advocacy Deputy Director, states, “We are delighted that this conference is taking place. Previous summits have led to strong international mobilization, which we want to continue. We hope the next event will be even more engaging for States and international organizations. Still, we are aware that some donors are reducing their funding and that States are disengaging from certain issues as global crises grow. We will urge these States to continue fully and effectively implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.”

Alessandra Aresu, HI Health and Protection Director, says, “HI welcomes the decision of the Global Disability Summit to ensure a diversity of themes for the program sessions, which reflects the need to invest in areas that have a shorter history within the disability movement, such as health equity and inclusive climate action, while continue working on well-established themes such as inclusive education, inclusive employment, and inclusive humanitarian action. In collaboration with organizations of persons with disabilities, HI is committed to continue promoting the rights of persons with disabilities across different themes and to persist in calling for mainstream international organizations, donors, and other stakeholders to consistently include persons with disabilities and their representative organization in their work.”

HI’s Work alongside Persons with Disabilities

Benin, Cambodia, and Jordan are among the 59 countries where HI implements activities supporting people with disabilities in close collaboration with Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs).

Jordan

In Jordan, HI is currently running eight projects in support of persons with disabilities and people in need of assistance in the fields of early childhood development, economic inclusion, inclusive education, advocacy, inclusive humanitarian action, maternal, newborn, and child health, mental health and psychosocial support, physical rehabilitation, protection against violence and abuse, social development and social protection.

Doa'a, a young Syrian refugee with Down Syndrome and severe speech difficulties, has been diagnosed with cancer. Living in Zarqa, Jordan, HI, and Jordan partner Al Hashimiya Housing Elementary School has supported her in attending school, covering her tuition fees and providing her with materials, classroom support, and homeschooling. Doa’a is also receiving cancer treatment at Al-Hussein Cancer Hospital.

Benin

In Benin, HI, is currently running five projects supporting persons with disabilities and vulnerable people in economic inclusion, food aid, inclusive education, support for advocacy, physical rehabilitation, social development, and social protection. Flore, a widow with two dependent children, has a physical disability. Through a project jointly implemented by HI and the Community Based Rehabilitation Centre on professional inclusion, she has received orthoses and professional and material assistance to start her own hairdressing business. Soon, she hopes to be able to cement the floor of her little salon. Flore is an active member of the Women's Club, which meets regularly at the CBR Center to offer support, advice, and mutual aid.

Cambodia

In Cambodia, HI is currently running six projects supporting persons with disabilities and most excluded people in economic inclusion, inclusive education, land release, and physical rehabilitation. At the age of four, Min Sokly contracted polio. She quickly lost the use of her legs. Until she was 20, she could only get around by dragging herself on the floor with her arms. She could not attend school and didn’t know how to read. After receiving a wheelchair from HI, Min Sokly enrolled in a socio-economic program run by HI and was able to open her own little shop. She has received training in management and sales. Today, she buys food products and household items from a market 30 kilometers away and resells them in her shop. Her new activity has transformed her life. Before, she had no regular source of income. Now, she runs her own business, significantly improving her economic situation and broader community integration.

The Global Disability Summit

The first Global Disability Summit in 2018 was a milestone in international efforts to advance the rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities. This Summit continues to provide a unique opportunity for enhancing understanding of disability, heightening awareness of the challenges faced by persons with disabilities, and promoting inclusive policies.

The first and second Global Disability Summit (GDS) in 2018 and 2022 brought together stakeholders from different governments, civil society organizations, the UN, and Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) to discuss disability inclusion and inclusive development. At the third GDS, to be held in Berlin on the 2nd and 3rd of April 2025, topics on the agenda notably include inclusive health, inclusive education, and inclusive humanitarian action. These are also fundamental pillars of HI's action.