CHAIRMAN: DR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: DR. KHALID MUBARAK AL-SHAFI

Qatar / Government

‘Protecting PWDs among top priorities for GCC’

Published: 12 Mar 2024 - 08:58 am | Last Updated: 12 Mar 2024 - 09:00 am
Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations Office in Geneva H E  Dr. Hind Abdulrahman Al Muftah

Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations Office in Geneva H E Dr. Hind Abdulrahman Al Muftah

QNA

Geneva: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states emphasized that they are committed to including persons with disabilities (PWDs) in their top priorities, pointing out that they have enacted multiple laws and carried out programs that boost this vision at the national level.

Additionally, GCC states endorsed a unified law for the protection of PWDs in 2019. The law was dedicated to supporting the PWDs rights and advancing all legislative, political, technological, rehabilitative, medical, and financial frameworks based on their needs to be further included in the community.

This came in the statement delivered by Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations Office in Geneva H E  Dr. Hind Abdulrahman Al Muftah on behalf of the GCC states, in her capacity as chair of the Gulf group during the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, within the framework of the 55th session of the Human Rights Council.

The GCC states affirmed that they agreed with the content set out in the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities which underscored the significance of effectively realizing the PWDs rights and moving forward to methodically include the disability perspective in all efforts devoted to implementing the 2030 Sustainable Development Strategy. They, likewise, stressed the importance of maintaining due diligence for global challenges when crafting PWDs relevant policies.

They highlighted that the rapid technological evolution, climate change, natural disaster, along with other major changes currently facing the world are weighing on PWDs as the most vulnerable segments and subsequently are mostly affected by poverty and a multipronged major crises.