Access for people with disabilities

© Yasuko Takenaga

The World Health Organization (WHO) states that we have 15 per cent of world population with disabilities. However, information and communication technologies (ICT) have the potential for making significant improvements in the lives of these persons.

ICTs offer individuals the ability to compensate for physical or functional limitations, thus allowing them to enhance their social and economic integration in communities by enlarging the scope of activities available to them.

UNESCO works with its partners to promote the use of ICT for access to information and knowledge for all persons, including those with disabilities.

UNESCO and People with disabilities

In building inclusive knowledge society, access to knowledge and information is of vital importance to ensure that all persons are able to participate as creative and productive members of the society.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities is celebrated annually since 1992 on 3 December to promote an understanding of disability issues and to mobilise support for the dignity and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the inclusion of persons with disabilities in every aspect of life. 

UNESCO is one of the UN agencies that promotes and supports the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted in 2006. The UN Convention represents the universal framework, which reaffirms that all persons with all types of disabilities can enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Meetings

  • Consultative meeting on Accessible ICTs and Personalized Learning for Students with Disabilities
    UNESCO in partnership with Microsoft Corporation is organizing a meeting entitled "Accessible ICTs and Personalized Learning for Students with Disabilities: A Dialogue among Educators, Industry, Government and Civil Society" to take place from 17 to 18 November 2011 at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France. This event will facilitate a deep and multi-stakeholder dialogue on challenges of/and practical solutions for promoting personalization through technology in the classrooms.
  • WSIS Forum 2011 Action Line C3 - Access: Interactive session on "Access to Information and Knowledge for Persons with Disabilities"
    This session will take place on Monday, 16 May 2011 (14:45 - 16:15, Room II) at the International Labour Organization (ILO), Geneva, Switzerland. This interactive debate will explore existing and potential usage of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to improve access by persons with disabilities to information and knowledge and encourage their participation in social, economic and political life.
  • UNESCO Open Forum: towards open, transparent and inclusive governance of the Internet
    The Session 3 of the UNESCO Open Forum took place on 16th of September at the fifth meeting of the Internet governance Forum in Vilnius, Lithuania: An initiative on developing inclusive information policies using ICTs in education for persons with disabilities.
  • Fifth consultation on Action Line C3 “ICTs and Person with disabilities”: 11 May 2010
    UNESCO, in partnership with the Sindbad Mediterranean without Disabilities, organized an interactive session on Information and Communication Technologies and Persons with Disabilities on 11 May 2010 at WSIS Forum 2010 in Geneva (Switzerland). The session presented a number of good practices in the use of ICT to facilitate social inclusion of persons with disabilities. 
  • Consultative meeting on ICTs and disabilities
    UNESCO, in cooperation with Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies (G3ict), is organizing the consultative meeting “Mainstreaming ICTs for Persons with Disabilities To access Information and Knowledge” on 22-23 February 2010 (Room XIV) at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France.
  • UNESCO-G3ict partnership agreement on ICT for persons with disabilities
    UNESCO and the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies (G3ict) signed a partnership agreement to facilitate the social inclusion of persons with disabilities through the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), on 22 February 2010. This agreement contributes to the implementation of the Digital Accessibility Agenda defined by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
  • UNESCO at ITU Telecom World 2009 
    UNESCO organized its pavilion entitled “Empowering persons with disabilities” at ITU Telecom World 2009 on the 5-9 October 2009.

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