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Sightsavers' petition urges the UN to ensure people with disabilities are not forgotten during COVID-19

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International NGO Sightsavers has launched a petition calling for the United Nations to meet the needs of people with disabilities, who are facing the worst effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lives of people with disabilities are being put at greater risk due to a lack of action from governments around the world to meet their needs during the pandemic, according to campaigners.

The petition is part of Sightsavers’ Equal World campaign, which seeks to amplify the voices of people with disabilities and highlight the denial of rights that they face globally.

Shikuku Obosi, Sightsavers’ Disability Inclusion Advisor who is based in Nairobi, said: “This is a life and death situation. Like everyone else, we are anxious, we are doing our best to ensure we don’t catch or spread this virus, while we try to feed ourselves and our families.

"We, people with disabilities, are people. Just people. Nothing special or unusual. The difference is that we are also having to bend over backwards to get any recognition that we exist and that we also need assistance from our governments and development organisations. We are human too and we matter as well.

“Due to ongoing discrimination all over the world we see that, when a disaster like COVID strikes, we are the hardest hit and the least supported.”

The discrimination people with disabilities are reporting includes:

  • Not being given vital information on COVID-19 in accessible formats
  • Denial of essential personal support
  • Being deprioritised to receive healthcare
  • Increased risk of contracting COVID-19 in institutions
  • Increased barriers for women and girls who wish to claim their sexual and reproductive health and rights

Natasha Kennedy, Campaign Manager of Equal World said: “The disability rights movement is in a strong position to influence the UN right now. Its new Disability Inclusion Strategy could ensure the rights and needs of people with disabilities are recognised and met across the entire UN system, including within its emergency health responses.

“We need the UN and member states to step-up their efforts to make this happen. This cannot be put on the backburner. We are in an international crisis and there are up to 1 billion people with disabilities who are trying to survive without the recognition or support they need.”

Equal World will collect petition signatures until 15 July 2020.

To sign the Equal World petition visit www.sightsavers.org/equalworld

ENDS

Sightsavers campaign Equal World calls on the United Nations and member states to improve the lives of people with disabilities around the world by promoting disability rights and inclusion throughout its work.

The charity has campaigned for disability-inclusive global development since 2013, and in that time has seen significant recognition of disability as a priority issue.

Sightsavers is an international organisation that works in more than 30 developing countries to prevent avoidable blindness, treat and eliminate neglected tropical disease, and promote the rights of people with disabilities.

Globally 2.2 billion people have a vision impairment and of these, at least 1 billion people have a vision impairment or blindness that could have been prevented or is yet to be addressed. This burden weighs more heavily on poorer countries, and on marginalised communities. And projections show that global demand for eye care is set to surge in the coming years.