UNITED NATIONS: Marking the 10th anniversary of a United Nations treaty that protects the rights of persons with disabilities, senior UN officials have highlighted the critical role of people with disabilities to play as an invaluable partner to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. “Through the power of music and the arts, these talented women and men are living examples of our core message: disability is not inability,” the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said, in a video message, with reference to artists from the Beautiful Mind Charity, “4WheelCity” and the Samulnori team, who are performing at the UN Headquarters. “Let us work together for a world of opportunity and dignity for all, a future of inclusion, one in which we all gain by leaving no one behind,” he added. Implementing the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for all persons with disabilities is the main focus of the Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) as they meet in New York on Wednesday and Thursday. Gathering hundreds of disability advocates and government delegates, the 9th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the CRPD constitutes one of the largest and most diverse international meetings on disability in the world. The UN also underlined that the annual review of the Convention will examine the implementation of the binding agreement, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2006 to reaffirm that the one billion persons with disabilities, which constitute as many as 15 percent of the world’s population, must enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms. “There is still much more we can do to fully implement the CRPD and make rights a reality for the more than one billion persons with disabilities around the world,” the UN Chef de Cabinet, Edmond Mullet, said, while speaking on behalf of the Secretary-General at the opening of the meeting. “The Conference of States Parties offers a good opportunity to reflect on important lessons and move forward as your theme puts it in “Implementing the 2030 development agenda for all persons with disabilities: Leaving no one behind,” he stressed. Mullet also highlighted some of the progress made in recent years, such as disability-inclusive strategies being featured in the Sendia Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, while most recently at the World Humanitarian Summit, stakeholders also highlighted the importance of furthering humanitarian actions that are responsive to the needs of persons with disabilities. In his opening remarks, President, General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft said that the international commitments to the rights and advancement of persons with disabilities are deeply rooted in the UN Charter. Indeed, they have been elaborated on over many decades through the Convention, as well as the outcome document of the 2013 High-level Meeting on Disability and Development of the General Assembly. “And finally, now, thanks to the advocacy of disability organizations and concerted efforts of many others, they have been included at the heart of the 2030 Agenda, an agenda that promises to leave no one behind,” he said, further adding that in the SDGs, disability is not about needs but about rights and empowerments. “Persons with disabilities have been given specific prominence across a range of the goals as well as in relation to data collection and monitoring of the SDGs,” he said. Recalling that yesterday, his office organised a General Assembly panel discussion on disabilities and that yesterday morning, civil society also held its annual forum which this year focused on leaving no one behind, Lykketoft said that the high level of interest and participation in these meetings was very encouraging.