Check Against Delivery
Remarks by H.E. Annalena Baerbock
President of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
at the Opening of the 19th session of the
Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
9 June 2026
General Assembly Hall, United Nations
(As Delivered by Chef de Cabinet, Ms. Sofia Borges )
President of the Conference of States Parties,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning.
I am honoured to deliver these remarks on behalf of the President of the General Assembly, Her Excellency Annalena Baerbock, who sends her sincere regrets that she is unable to join us in person due to her ongoing visit to Nairobi, Kenya.
In December 2006, the General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities with a clear purpose: to protect and promote the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities, while ensuring their full and equal participation in society.
Nearly twenty years later, the Convention has helped advance tangible progress, while transforming the international community¡¯s approach to disability – moving away from charity-based approaches and towards one rooted in autonomy, equality, accessibility and participation.
That progress can be seen across several areas.
In employment, according to the United Nations Disability and Development Report 2024, 79 per cent of countries now have legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability.
In education, 87 per cent of countries included in the study now have laws or policies protecting the right to education for persons with disabilities, up from 74 per cent in 2016.
In electoral participation, States are increasingly taking proactive measures, including by making polling stations more physically accessible to persons with disabilities.
These are important examples of progress.
They reflect years of advocacy, legal reform and institutional effort, including by persons with disabilities themselves.
Yet progress in law has not always translated into progress in daily life.
For too many persons with disabilities, equality remains constrained by poverty, exclusion and dependence on systems that were not designed around their rights or choices.
In many developing countries, persons with disabilities still lack access to the assistive technology they need.
Care and support systems remain inadequate, limiting independent living and full participation in their communities.
These gaps are felt across daily life: in education, employment, public services, transport, information and communications, and civic participation, including voting.
They fall even more heavily on women and girls with disabilities, persons with intellectual disabilities, indigenous persons with disabilities, and persons with disabilities living in rural areas, who often face overlapping forms of exclusion.
The result is a persistent cycle of inequality. Persons with disabilities remain at higher risk of poverty, often earning lower wages, facing additional disability-related costs, and lacking equal access to financial services.
That is why this moment requires renewed focus and practical action.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the recent Doha Political Declaration both commit to leaving no one behind.
That promise cannot be fulfilled while persons with disabilities continue to face barriers, whether in education, employment, public services or political life.
Indeed, disability inclusion is one of the clearest measures of whether social development is truly inclusive.
Achieving that goal requires investing in support systems that enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in their communities, while protecting them from exploitation and exclusion.
It also requires actively involving persons with disabilities in shaping the policies and decisions that affect their lives.
At the high-level meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the World Programme of Action for Youth, we heard from James Casserly, a 19-year-old disability advocate and wheelchair user.
He reminded us that participation is ¡°more than a box-ticking exercise. It is when we get to make our own decisions, and not just have other people make decisions on our behalf. As we always say, nothing about us without us.¡±
James was speaking as a young person with lived experience, with clarity, conviction and moral force. But his message reaches far beyond youth participation.
¡°Nothing about us without us¡± expresses a principle of democratic participation.
It reminds us that persons with disabilities should be present from the beginning, as leaders, experts, advocates and decision-makers, shaping the policies and decisions that affect their lives.
As we approach the twentieth anniversary of the Convention, this is the work before us: to turn legal recognition into lived reality; to close the gap between commitment and implementation; and to build societies in which persons with disabilities can live independently, participate fully, and enjoy their rights on an equal basis with others.
Thank you.
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