Promoting the inclusion of persons with disabilities at COP28
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A side event was held in the ILO Just Transition Pavilion on persons with disabilities and a green transition at COP28 on the 9th of December.
One of the objectives of the side event was to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the Work Programme on Just Transition Pathways which was being discussed at COP28. The good news is that the Just Transition Work Programme which was adopted at the end of COP28 includes a reference to persons with disabilities.
The side event was opened by the ILO Senior Disability Specialist who presented the publication āMaking the green transition inclusive of persons with disabilitiesā jointly produced by Fundacion ONCE and the ILO, which had been launched just a few weeks before. This publication, produced with support from the EU, analyses the opportunities provided by different economic sectors and provides detailed recommendations to different stakeholders.
The side event included a panel of three speakers: Elham Youssefian, Senior Adviser, Humanitarian, DRR and Climate Action from the International Disability Alliance (IDA). Ambrose Murangira, Thematic Director, Disability Inclusion, Light for the World, and Juan Carlos Mendoza, Director on Environment, Climate, Gender and Social Inclusion of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
The three panelists were asked to briefly comment on the publication, which they all welcomed, highlighting in particular the analysis by sectors and the recommendations.
Elham Youssefian shared the analysis made by IDA of the latest round of National Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) , highlighting that the majority of NDCs did not include any reference to persons with disabilities and those that did, with very few exceptions, included only minor references to persons with disabilities and no actions. The situation was a bit better in terms of disability inclusion in the NAPs.
Ambrose Murangira provided some information on the work that Light for the World has been doing to promote the employment of persons with disabilities in the rural sector, also by using disability inclusion facilitators. Based on the experience of Uganda, this methodology has now been applied in the four countries covered by the SPARK project: Burkina Faso, India, Malawi and Mozambique.
Juan Carlos Mendoza highlighted the commitment of IFAD to promote the employment of persons with disabilities in the rural economy and how the IFAD funded SPARK project implemented by Light for the World, Procasur and ILO will be of great use to improve disability inclusion throughout the work of IFAD.
