Expert Group Meeting on Mainstreaming Disability in Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) policies, processes and mechanisms:
Development for All
WHO Headquaters, Geneva
14-16 April 2009
The Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) organized the “Expert Group Meeting on Mainstreaming Disability in MDG Policies, Processes and Mechanisms: Development for All”. The meeting was be held at WHO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland on 14-16 April 2009.
Eleven experts with experience in MDG policies, programmes, monitoring and evaluation and disability, in their individual capacity, were invited by the Division for Social Policy and Development in close collaboration with the World Health Organization. Selected United Nations agencies and organizations, and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations participated as observers.
The meeting reviewed existing policy frameworks, resource and tools, and mechanisms for mainstreaming disability in MDG processes. After reviewing the MDG process and entry points for disability the experts provided policy recommendations, linking the MDG processes with reference to other internationally agreed development goals. More specifically, the experts recommend specific and general options of the inclusion of disability—points of entry, specific recommendations, future work in MDG processes, and made proposals for (a) the development of a specific road map and (b) a set of policy recommendations for mainstreaming disability in MDG processes, mechanisms and institutions.
Key findings / Main messages
The Millennium Development Goals cannot be achieved without the full and effective inclusion of persons with disabilities and their participation in all stages of the MDGs processes.
The existing MDGs framework, tools and mechanisms provide several opportunities to mainstream disability in the MDGs.
The existing data gap on the situation of persons with disabilities in the context of the MDGs continues to be a major challenge and limitation. Some data are available, and this could be used to effectively support the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the MDGs processes.
Action to ensure the inclusion of persons with disabilities can be taken at different levels—global, regional, national—with a view of short-term, medium-term and long term results—three to six months with a view to impact on the 2010 review session of the MDGs; through 2015; and beyond 2015.
For immediate high impact results, priority is to be given to targeting actions at the global level, in the context of monitoring. These were the focus of the meeting.
At the global level, two main areas of strategic action for short-term results include the report of the Secretary-General on the work of the organization to be presented to the sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly (2009) and the Millennium Development Goals report 2009.
Strategic action with a view of medium-term results would be including disability in the MDGs reporting guidelines, and the need of disaggregated data on disability in the Handbook on MDGs indicators. Working within regional process would also be effective to mainstream disability in the MDGs.
Actions with a view of long-term impact would include mainstreaming disability in the preparatory processes looking at the next steps after 2015.
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