The International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) is observed annually on December 3rd to promote awareness and understanding of disability issues and to mobilize support for the rights, dignity, and well-being of persons with disabilities. The day also aims to celebrate the achievements and contributions of persons with disabilities to society.

History:

It was the UN General Assembly resolution 47/3 of 1992 that declared a yearly celebration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD). Celebrated globally on December 3, IDPD rallies for pertinent matters concerning the integration and inclusion of persons with disabilities into society, enlightens people about disability issues and highlights the advantages of an all-inclusive and accessible community. The United Nations organizations, academic institutions, civil society groups and private sector are invited to participate in IDPD by working together with disabled people’s organizations to organize activities and events.

Theme of the previous years:

1. 1998: "Arts, Culture and Independent Living"
2. 1999: "Accessibility for all for the new Millennium"
3. 2000: "Making information technologies work for all"
4. 2001: "Full participation and equality: The call for new approaches to assess progress and evaluate outcome"
5. 2002: "Independent Living and Sustainable Livelihoods"
6. 2003: "A Voice of our Own"
7. 2004: "Nothing About Us Without Us"
8. 2005: "Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Action in Development"
9. 2006: "E-Accessibility"
10. 2007: "Decent Work for Persons with Disabilities"
11. 2008: "Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Dignity and justice for all of us"
12. 2009: "Making the MDGs Inclusive: Empowerment of persons with disabilities and their communities around the world"
13. 2010: "Keeping the promise: Mainstreaming disability in the Millennium Development Goals towards 2015 and beyond”
14. 2011: "Together for a better world for all: Including persons with disabilities in development”
15. 2012: "Removing barriers to create an inclusive and accessible society for all”
16. 2013: "Break Barriers, Open Doors: for an inclusive society and development for all”
17. 2014: "Sustainable development: The promise of technology”
18. 2015: "Inclusion matters: access and empowerment for people of all abilities”
19. 2016: "Achieving 17 Goals for the future we want”
20. 2017: "Transformation toward sustainable and resilient society for all"
21. 2018: "Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality"
22. 2019: "Promoting the participation of persons with disabilities and their leadership: taking action on the 2030 Development Agenda"
23. 2020: "Building Back Better: toward a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 world"
24. 2021: "Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 world"
25. 2022: "Transformative solutions for inclusive development: the role of innovation in fueling an accessible and equitable world"
26. 2023: "United in action to rescue and archive the SDGs for, with and by person with disabilities"

Importance of the IDPD:

There are globally organized several activities and events on this day to raise awareness about disability issues and promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. Conferences, seminars, workshops, cultural activities, art displays, sporting exercises and community outreach programmes would be part of this.

Every year the International Day for Persons with Disabilities has a different theme that relates to disability rights in society. In some recent years these have included access to education, employment opportunities, accessibility in urban environments as well as the impact of COVID-19 on people with disabilities.

The International community honors the International Day of Persons with Disabilities by reiterating its commitment to safeguarding human liberties and respect as well as fostering total engagement of individuals with impairments into society in order to achieve equality for all. It signifies a day when diversity should be celebrated while recognizing people living with physical challenges which they contribute positively towards our societies.