Protecting PWDs Among Top Priorities, GCC States Confirm

HE Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Dr. Hind Abdulrahman Al Muftah

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states emphasized that they are committed to including persons with disabilities (PWDs) in their top priorities, pointing out that they have enacted multiple laws and carried out programs that boost this vision at the national level.

Additionally, GCC states endorsed a unified law for the protection of PWDs in 2019. The law was dedicated to supporting the PWDs rights and advancing all legislative, political, technological, rehabilitative, medical, and financial frameworks based on their needs to be further included in the community.

This came in the statement delivered by HE Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Dr. Hind Abdulrahman Al Muftah on behalf of the GCC states, in her capacity as chair of the Gulf group during the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, within the framework of the 55th session of the Human Rights Council.

The GCC states affirmed that they agreed with the content set out in the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities which underscored the significance of effectively realizing the PWDs rights and moving forward to methodically include the disability perspective in all efforts devoted to implementing the 2030 Sustainable Development Strategy. They, likewise, stressed the importance of maintaining due diligence for global challenges when crafting PWDs relevant policies.

They highlighted that the rapid technological evolution, climate change, natural disaster, along with other major changes currently facing the world are weighing on PWDs as the most vulnerable segments and subsequently are mostly affected by poverty and a multipronged major crise. The GCC states emphasized the importance of crafting protective policies and proactively monitoring the funding offered to PWDs, in addition to figuring out the methods of leveraging technological and medical advancement for their best interests to be further supported and socially and economically included in the community.

Source: QNA