World Health Organization and UN High Level Meeting on Disability
The World Health Organization (WHO)has been actively involved in supporting preparations for the UN High-Level Meeting on Disability (HLMD) to ensure that it is a success.
In 2012 WHO Director General, Dr Margaret Chan and Under Secretary General Wu Hongbo formally agreed, based on WHO’s technical experience from compiling the World report on disability and associated consultations, that WHO would provide a key technical assistance role to DESA and the co-facilitators in preparations for the HLMD outcomes document.
Over the past 12 months WHO has supported regional consultations held in Belgium, Brazil, Thailand and Tunisia in preparation of a draft outcome document; hosted a technical briefing during the 66th World Health Assembly entitled "Preparing for the General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Disability and Development: The Health Sector's Contribution"; and provided technical input to various background documents. Two key formal WHO submissions to the HLMD process are:
The WHO and World Bank World report on disability and its recommendations have been used as a key resource for the HLMD process. WHO has also recently released an infographic on better health for people with disabilities;
On the 23rd of September during the HLMD the WHO will be directly involved, either as co-host or in a speaking role at four important side-events; Assistive Technology (co-hosting with the Government of Philippines), Noncommunicable disease and Disability (led by PAHO jointly with Governments of Costa Rica and New Zealand), UN International Agency Support Group on CRPD – “Delivering as One”, and Community, Rights-Based and Disability Inclusive Development (led by Governments of Japan and Thailand).
The WHO Secretariat is scaling up efforts in line with the HLMD outcomes document by preparing a 7-year global action plan: Better health for persons with disabilities. The action plan is a key requirement of the 2013 World Health Assembly resolution 66.9 on disability.
WHO is organizing a series of regional and targeted consultations on the draft action plan during the third quarter of 2013 with Member States, civil society organizations, disabled people’s organization, international agencies and other partners to gather input for the content. A zero draft of the plan was shared with key DPOs, CSOs and United Nations agencies during the 6th Conference of States Parties to the CRPD. The revised first draft action plan is available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Russian and Spanish on the WHO Disability Action Plan webpage
As part of the process of developing the action plan, WHO has launched an online consultation process until 11 October 2013. The online consultation is open to everyone involved and interested in improving health outcomes for people with disabilities. People with disabilities, representatives of disabled peoples’ organizations (DPOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs) are particularly encouraged to submit their views on the draft plan, as are international development agencies and professional organizations and service providers involved in the delivery of rehabilitation services.
Access online consultation form
Since the launch of the World report on disability, and to support Member States and partners in implementing the Convention and forthcoming WHO Disability Action Plan, WHO has produced, jointly with partners, a range of technical guidelines and policy papers including:
- Guidelines on Community-based rehabilitation
- Guidelines on the provision of manual wheelchairs in less resourced settings
- Wheelchair Service Training Packages – basic and intermediate levels
- Joint position paper on the provision of mobility devices in less resourced settings
- Discussion paper on early childhood development and disability
The Secretariat, in collaboration with partners is in the process of developing a Model Disability Survey, guidelines on health-related rehabilitation, a statement on involuntary sterilization, a guidance note on disability and emergency risk management for the health sector and International Perspectives on Spinal Cord Injury.
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