Suomi kaksinkertaistaa rahoituksen vammaisia henkilöitä tukeville hankkeille vajaasta kuudesta kuudesta miljoonasta eurosta yli kymmeneen miljoonaan euroon. Tuki kattaa muun muassa tämän vuoden lisärahoituksen YK:n vammaiskumppanuusohjelmalle, kertoi ministeri Hautala puhuessaan YK:n vammaiskumppanuusohjelman tilaisuudessa New Yorkissa 24.9.2013.[:]
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Speech by Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala at the Reception and Call to Action for the Forum of the Global Partnership on Children with Disabilities in New York on 24 September 2013
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Dear Executive Director Lake, Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. It is an honour for me to be here today, to celebrate the launch of the publication ‘Towards an inclusive and Accessible Future for All – Voices of Persons with Disabilities on the Post 2015 Development Framework’
2. Inclusive development and the Post 2015 Agenda was also the topic of yesterday’s High Level Meeting on Disability and Development. I followed with great interest the discussion in the round table that I had the pleasure of co-chairing with Tunisia.
3. I feel very encouraged by the fact that so many of yesterday’s speakers emphasized the need to embrace a human rights based approach to development. It not only entails reviewing carefully what our objectives are, what we define as development – but also paying close attention to how we promote development.
4. A human rights based approach is about honouring the commit-ments that we, the Member States, and the international community have undertaken, when adopting the United Nations Charter, and international human rights treaties.
5. Human rights can be defined as minimum standards or require-ments for a life in dignity. Our development efforts should cor-respond to these standards. They should be directed towards capacity building of duty bearers and rights holders alike, so that human rights can be realized for all, without discrimination of any kind.
6. To ensure the inclusiveness of the new development framework, the way forward is an increased focus on human rights principles, such as universality, non-discrimination, equality, participation and accountability.
7. Non-discrimination and equality have to be reflected throughout the post 2015 agenda. Targets need to integrate equality concerns. Disaggregating information and targets is important, and needs to be complemented by specific measures and indicators for the reduction of inequalities.
8. Participation is a must. People have to be involved and empowered, to express their priorities, and to raise their concerns and needs. It is a right of all persons, with or without disabilities.
9. Meaningful and effective participation of persons with disabili-ties is a priority in Finnish development policy. We actively en-gage persons with disabilities, and their representative organizations in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects. We have a group of experts with disability, actively engaged in what we call ‘disability diplomacy’. We also regularly consult with our national disability organizations, through a working group on international disability affairs.
10. For us, it is very natural to cooperate with UNPRPD, because it is a partnership between different actors, with a focus on joint learning and knowledge creation. We are very pleased that new partners have joined forces with us. I would like to extend a warm welcome to Norway who is the latest one in joining us this year.
11. I am also extremely pleased to announce that the contribution of Finland to the Partnership will be further strengthened. We intend to provide the UNPRPD with an additional support that will raise the total contribution of Finland this year to well over 2 million US dollars.
12. Finally, congratulations are in order for the publication launched today. It not only raises the challenges and barriers that still exist for disability inclusive development. It also highlights concrete proposals on how to move forward. Good examples of these include the twin track approach, diversity budgeting, and improving the gathering of statistics and data on disability, to be able to address the root causes of exclusion and discrimination of persons with disabilities.
13. The importance of this publication lies in the fact that it represents the voice of persons with disabilities. The motto “nothing about us without us” must guide us, as we continue discussions on the contents and ways of implementing a future global development agenda.
14. Thank you.
