The Global Disability Summit (GDS) is a global advocacy event that aims to advance the rights of persons with disabilities. It brings together stakeholders to advance disability-inclusive international cooperation and humanitarian action efforts.
The Summit offers a practical platform to make concrete commitments. The commitments are proposed investments in financial and human resources to promote disability-inclusive development and humanitarian action.
The European Union (EU) made 16 commitments during the last Summit.
We need bold and strong EU commitments
The European Disability Forum (EDF) is now asking the EU to build on its past promises and expand its efforts on disability inclusion globally during the upcoming Summit.
We have outlined 10 key commitments for the EU to consider for future disability-inclusive development and humanitarian action.
The EU must publicly state its commitments, in accordance with the provided guidelines, in the online platform before the Summit (which will take place on 2 and 3 April 2025).
Proposed EU Commitments
Disability-Inclusion in EU funding
- The European Commission will make disability inclusion a top priority in the next EU financial framework, ensuring funding programmes promote accessibility and inclusion for persons with disabilities.
This includes
- Ensuring Safety and Rights in Crisis Situations: Increasing funding for programmes that prioritise the safety and rights of persons with disabilities in conflict zones, humanitarian crises and natural disasters including climate action.
- Align all Official Development Assistance (ODA) and Investments with the CRPD: Ensuring EU aid and investments such as Global Gateway initiatives, are inclusive and accessible and urge the European Investment Bank (EIB) to prioritise disability inclusion in its future ODA spending.
- Supporting OPD Participation at the UN CRPD Conference: Funding OPDs to participate at the UN CRPD Conference of State Parties: The Commission will urge Member States to fund the annual participation of OPD representatives at the Conference of States Parties (COSP). Member States must notify OPDs at least three months in advance to allow time for preparation and speaker applications.
- Contributing to the Global Disability Fund: Allocating at least EUR 10 million to the Global Disability Fund (formerly the UN Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – UN PRPD) through the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) – Global Europe ‘Global Challenges’ thematic programme.
- Promoting Inclusion Through EU Pre-Accession Funds: Increasing funding through the EU Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA) for programs that promote inclusive education, employment, independent living, and accessibility.
Action and engagement
Other commitments that the EU must do:
- Develop a Disability Action Plan for EU External Action: By 2025, the European Commission will adopt a Disability Action Plan for external action, similar to the existing Youth Action and Gender Equality plans in EU external action.
- Ensure Meaningful Engagement of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities: The European Commission will further work with representative organisations at every stage to monitor and improve inclusion within EU international cooperation and humanitarian action activates.
- Improve Data Collection, Monitoring and Evaluation: The European Commission will collect data by disability, age and gender within its external action initiatives. This includes:
- Strengthening Disability Inclusion Indicators in EU Reporting: Incorporating obligatory and unambiguous indicators that provide quantitative data on inclusion of persons disabilities, both as beneficiaries and as equal partners, through DG ECHO framework partners reporting mechanisms.
- Strengthen the Disability Policy Marker: Advocating through its Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) membership, to improve disability inclusion standards by requiring all projects to “do no harm” to persons with disabilities and mandating active involvement of OPDs at all stages.
- Mainstream Disability, Equality and Intersectional Inclusion: The European Commission will fully incorporate disability rights into all EU international cooperation, humanitarian action, climate action and Global Gateway initiatives including the follow-up to the EU’s Gender Equality Action Plan (GAP III), Human Rights and Democracy Action Plan and the EU New Pact on Migration and Asylum. This means:
- Mainstreaming Disability Inclusion Across Project Phases: Embedding disability inclusion from project design to evaluation.
- Prioritising Rights of Marginalised Groups: Prioritising the rights of groups most at risk such women and girls with disabilities, youth with disabilities, migrants and refugees with disabilities etc.
- Advancing Recognition of National Sign Languages: Supporting recognition of national sign languages.
- Building Capacity for Disability-Inclusive Practice: The European Commission will train EU staff and partners to ensure disability inclusion is embedded across all their work and project, including Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA)-funded projects and reforms, with particular attention to migrants and refugees with disabilities.
- Advance Disability Rights in EU Accession Countries: The European Commission will support EU accession countries to implement the CRPD by supporting CRPD monitoring frameworks to track progress and ensure accountability.
- Upholding the Rights of Migrants and Refugees with Disabilities: The European Commission will ensure the inclusion and protection of migrants and refugees with disabilities by introducing new measures to address barriers faced in reception centers and long-term inclusion processes.
- Strengthen Protection for Persons with Disabilities in Crises and Climate Action: The European Commission will prioritise the safety and inclusion of persons with disabilities in humanitarian crises, conflicts, and climate actions.
- Support Accessible Recovery and Reconstruction in Ukraine: The European Commission will organise a conference, in partnership with organisations of persons with disabilities, with focus on accessibility of post-crisis recovery and reconstruction.