Leave No One Behind: Inclusion of Persons With Disabilities In the United Nations Development Agenda

Historically, persons with disabilities were excluded from the official and internationally agreed development programs and agendas, including those implemented by the United Nations (UN). This exclusion had severe consequences on the rights of persons with disabilities across the world and thus positioned persons with disabilities amongst those that are the poorest of the poor and those that are left behind. The goal of this study is to explore a connection between the UN development agenda and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and thus contribute to providing guidance for implementing development inclusive of persons with disabilities. The research questions are: 1. What is the connection between the articles of CRPD and internationally agreed goals from the UN development agenda? 2. What is the historical development of global and universal commitments of the UN with its member states towards sustainable development inclusive of persons with disabilities and their rights? 3. How has the inclusion of people with disabilities in the UN development agenda changed over time? 4. What guidelines can be provided to policymakers in implementing the development goals inclusive of persons with disabilities, and particularly in the areas of education, employment, inclusive cities and data? To respond to these questions, the researcher uses the research method of Critical Discourse Analysis by exploring how the references to persons with disabilities in the UN development documents can be correlated with the CRPD. Through application of the critical discourse analysis, the study attempts to provide recommendations for policymakers at the national level. The study use model developed by Diane Kingston in a review of 17 UN development documents, which revealed an increase in number of references to persons with disabilities in these documents. The study further, provides a presentation of historical events that potentially influence this increase in number. The key events recognized by the study that could potentially influence the increasing number of references are the adoption of the CRPD and systematic and organized advocacy work of the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC). The study concludes that there is a connection between UN development documents and the CRPD, through the application of the model. This builds a solid argument for recommendations to policymakers to focus on implementation of the CRPD in order to implement a development agenda inclusive of persons with disabilities.