International Day for Countering Hate Speech by United Nations News   June 2026   United Nations Secretary-General's Antonio Guterres message on the International Day for Countering Hate Speech:   "Hate speech is the first step down the path of dehumanization, a path that leads all too frequently to violence, conflict, and atrocity crimes. It is a tool of division targeting specific groups – including women, migrants, refugees, LGBTQIA+ people, persons with disabilities and many other minorities – often for political gain.   In our digital age, hate speech spreads faster than ever, amplified by unregulated platforms and intensified by artificial intelligence. Too many algorithms reward outrage and division, incentivizing lies for likes and promoting violence for views. Anonymity online also makes it harder to hold perpetrators to account.   But practical solutions can break this dangerous cycle, from education to recognize and reject hate speech; to support for those targeted by abuse; to stronger interventions from governments and technology companies. States have clear obligations under international law to combat incitement to hatred, and to promote inclusion, respect for diversity and solidarity. At the same time, freedom of expression must never be an excuse for harmful messages.   The United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech offers guidance, while the Global Principles for Information Integrity offers a roadmap to a safer, more ethical digital ecosystem.   On International Day for Countering Hate Speech, let us reject prejudice in all its forms, and work together to build a world based on human rights, dignity, and respect".   http://www.un.org/en/observances/countering-hate-speech http://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing-notes/unhcr-hate-speech-and-misinformation-are-creating-real-world-harm-displaced http://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing-notes/unhcr-75-years-refugee-convention-remains-lifeline-millions http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2025/12/tipping-point-the-chilling-escalation-of-online-violence-against-women-in-the-public-sphere http://news.un.org/en/story/2025/06/1164531 http://www.unfpa.org/TFGBV http://www.ohchr.org/en/topic/racism-xenophobia-intolerance http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2026/03/cerd-ecri-joint-statement-international-day-elimination-racial http://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2026/03/sharpeville-durban-unfinished-fight-against-racial-discrimination http://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/61/68 http://www.globalr2p.org/publications/the-perils-of-loosening-hate-speech-protections/ Visit the related web page
	1.3 billion people around the world live with some form of disability by UN News, CBM Global, European Disability Forum   9 June 2026   UN Secretary-General urges Expanded Services for Persons with Disabilities   UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the nineteenth session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. (Extract):   "This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the international Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. For countless people around the world, that means 20 years with wider access, greater recognition and deeper respect.   This Convention helped to shift the paradigm of disability — from a medical and charity-based model, to one that centres human rights. Almost every agreement since has reflected this change, with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) enshrining disability inclusion as a key measure and decision-making factor.   This room is filled with champions who have worked to break down the barriers that hold back persons with disabilities and impede their contributions to the world.   The Convention has now been ratified by 192 countries. Over 90 per cent of countries have laws guaranteeing the rights of persons with disabilities. Nearly 80 per cent prohibit discrimination against persons with disabilities in hiring. And 75 per cent have passed laws to guarantee the integration of students with disabilities.   In practical terms, this means millions more children and youth receiving an education and millions more adults earning a living. It means more independence and more resilient communities.   But, it is also a moment to reflect. The latest UN Disability and Development Report found that almost all of the SDG indicators for persons with disabilities are off track. In other words, while progress is real, it is unacceptably slow. Worse still, we are at risk of losing the ground we have gained.   Our world faces a whirlwind of crises, from climate change, to conflict, to a global surge in the cost of living. And we know that when conflicts erupt or disasters strike, persons with disabilities are among the first to lose: Lose their jobs, lose access, lose their lives. Such crises can also result in further disabilities and lasting impacts on mental health.   That is why, as we tackle these challenges, we must keep the needs of persons with disabilities front and centre. This Conference focuses on three crucial themes.   First — violence and abuse. The numbers are shocking. One third of all children with disabilities experience neglect or violence — be it emotional, physical or sexual. These risks extend into adulthood, especially among women with disabilities and persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities.   This must end. That requires better mechanisms for identifying and reporting exploitation. And it requires justice systems that are accessible to all.   Next — support systems and care. It’s time to rapidly scale up services that enable persons with disabilities to participate more fully in economic, social and political life.   We know that within existing care systems, persons with disabilities both provide and receive care. We also know that unpaid care work falls disproportionately on women and girls, including women and girls with disabilities.   Improving care systems can help advance both disability inclusion and gender equality. This includes better rehabilitation and habilitation, accessible and affordable housing, assistive technology and enhanced transportation.   Such services can make an especially big difference in low-income nations, where almost half of persons with disabilities still cannot access community activities.   And where more than 60 per cent are still denied the support to make decisions about their own lives — including where to live, or how to spend their money.   This requires national development plans that prioritize disability, and both domestic and international investment. It also requires a deeper recognition of the link between age and disability, including policies that prioritize long-term care and support as populations age.   Finally, civic engagement. Persons with disabilities are often missing from many political and other roles. In developing countries, about 30 per cent of persons with disabilities encounter hurdles when trying to vote in elections.   For decades, the disability movement has made its message clear: “Nothing about us, without us.” Governments have a responsibility to remove all barriers to participation in every aspect of political and public life, and to empower persons with disabilities to be full partners in policymaking.   Too often, living with a disability means living in a world designed by and for others. We possess the power to change this reality. The world benefits when everyone has the chance to use their skills in the service of humanity, and to pursue their dreams. Your discussions today are a vital next step towards a world where all of us are respected and included. Together, let’s realize the rights of every person with disabilities and build a fair and vibrant future for all".   http://press.un.org/en/2026/sgsm23166.doc.htm http://social.desa.un.org/issues/disability/news/cosp19-un-gathering-to-mark-crpd20-and-reflect-on-progress-and-future-action http://social.desa.un.org/cosp/19th-session http://webtv.un.org/en/search?query=COSP19 http://social.desa.un.org/issues/disability/crpd/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-crpd http://social.desa.un.org/publications/un-flagship-report-on-disability-and-development-2024 http://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/crpd/20th-anniversary-crpd http://www.who.int/teams/noncommunicable-diseases/sensory-functions-disability-and-rehabilitation/global-report-on-health-equity-for-persons-with-disabilities http://www.who.int/health-topics/disability/#tab=tab_1 http://www.globaldisabilitysummit.org/   June 2026   Reflections on the CRPD at 20: Laws Matter — But People Make Change   Mary Keogh, CBM Global’s Advocacy Director, reflects on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as it marks 20 years since its adoption, exploring its significance for disability rights and inclusion, and the people who continue to turn its promise into meaningful change.   As a federation, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is our north star, guiding us towards disability justice and inclusion in everything we do. It underpins our strategy; it amplifies our values and provides us a framework for holding ourselves accountable to.   In December 2006, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the CRPD. Two years later, in 2008, it entered into force as international law. In 2026, we mark 20 years since that historic adoption.   The CRPD is widely recognised as the fastest negotiated human rights treaty. That speed, however, should not be mistaken for simplicity. It took dedicated ambassadors who chaired the negotiations, governments who participated and civil society who observed. Negotiations spanned several years. An Ad Hoc Committee was established in 2002 to consider proposals for the treaty text, and after eight sessions, the final text was presented. By the end of 2006, the General Assembly adopted it.   Importantly, this process was one of the most inclusive in UN treaty-making history. Civil society including organisations of persons with disabilities played a central role as observers and advocates. The CRPD stands as a powerful example of global cooperation and decision-making that sought to include all voices and lifted the voices of persons with disabilities.   The CRPD was not created in a vacuum, foundations had already been laid by the earlier international frameworks, including the non-binding UN Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities. While 20 years is a short period in historical terms, it has been a significant era for disability rights, marked by rapid change and growing recognition worldwide.   Limitations and challenges   No international law can, on its own, solve all the world’s injustices. The CRPD is not a magic wand. Laws sit in statutes, policies, and regulatory frameworks but it is people, and the systems people design and manage, who bring them to life.   This reality is starkly reflected in the fact that, 20 years after the CRPD’s adoption, human rights violations against persons with disabilities continue to occur daily across the globe. Dehumanisation persists. Lives are lost. Liberties are restricted. Opportunities to live full and dignified lives are denied due to discrimination that remains deeply embedded in many societies, both wealthy and poor.   These violations do not happen in the abstract. They are the result of human decisions and systems that continue to exclude and marginalise persons with disabilities.   Alongside these sobering realities, there are also significant achievements to recognise and celebrate.   Governments, who have championed legal and policy reforms aligned with the CRPD. Public officials and institutions who have developed implementation plans and allocated budgets to support them. UN agencies and multilateral development banks who have adopted strategies and accountability frameworks. Development and humanitarian actors who have increasingly centred and invested in disability equity within their portfolios.   At CBM Global, we have seen the positive impact of the CRPD directly through our partner programmes and collaborations.   At the heart of these gains are people and movements within civil society who continue to push for change. Disability activists, organisations of persons with disabilities, national and regional networks, INGOs, NGOs, foundations, and researchers persist in holding governments to account and demanding progress where commitments fall short.   CBM Global is honoured to be part of these movements and to work tirelessly alongside those who continue to make the CRPD a living instrument for change.   June 2026   20 Years of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: European Disability Forum   The European Union and the European Disability Forum held a side event at the Conference of States Parties to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) on 9 June, marking the Convention’s 20th anniversary.   The event discussed the essential role of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities and civil society in shaping disability-inclusive laws, policies and funding priorities.   The event explored both the progress made over the past two decades and the urgent need to protect civic space, strengthen participation and invest in long-term movement building.   A strong theme throughout the event was that meaningful participation of persons with disabilities must be at the centre of decision-making.   Speakers stressed that Article 4.3 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities remains one of the Convention’s most transformative provisions, as it requires governments and institutions to closely consult and actively involve persons with disabilities through their representative organisations.   This principle, often captured in the slogan “Nothing About Us Without Us”, was reflected in calls for structured, permanent and accessible consultation processes that concretely influence policy outcomes.   Several speakers highlighted the importance of funding models that recognise organisations of persons with disabilities as political actors, experts and co-creators of public policy.   Participants emphasised that core, flexible and long-term funding is essential to support advocacy, organisational development, and sustained engagement in law and policy reform. They highlighted that the project-based funding model practised by some authorities and donors is not sufficient to support representative organisations.   Speakers referred to shrinking civic space, reductions in funding, backlash against human rights, and the impact of overlapping crises such as conflict, climate change, economic hardship and digital transformation. Participants stressed that progress often takes time and requires patience, persistence and long-term alliances across movements, including women’s rights, climate justice and other social justice networks.   Contributions from the International Disability Alliance highlighted the need to move beyond representation towards real influence, ensuring that youth with disabilities are engaged as partners and decision-makers. Speakers noted that disability rights advocacy must reflect the diversity of the disability community.   Audience interventions reinforced the urgency of fairer and more accessible funding systems. Participants raised concerns about the difficulty smaller and more diverse organisations face in accessing grants, and the need to ensure disability is included in mainstream funding streams.   The discussion also touched on accessibility in political institutions, the difference between genuine and performative consultation, and the importance of creating new alliances and new spaces for activism.   The event made clear that twenty years after the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the role of organisations of persons with disabilities and civil society remains fundamental to driving change.   Governments, donors and institutions must ensure that persons with disabilities and their representative organisations have the space, resources and influence needed to participate fully.   It was both a moment to celebrate progress and a reminder that meaningful inclusion requires sustained political will, structural support and a long-term commitment to disability rights.   June, 2026   Slow Progress: Twenty Years of Disability Rights, by Mohamed Sulieman Al Shazly.   When the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 13 December 2006, the moment carried an unmistakable sense of breakthrough. It was the first comprehensive human rights treaty of the 21st century, and attracted the highest number of signatories in history to a UN Convention on its opening day.   It was also the first global convention specifically addressing the human rights of people with disabilities, and throughout its drafting, members of the global disability rights movement insisted on being included in deciding what the convention should say. The instrument represented nothing less than a civilisational shift: a formal declaration that disability is not a medical misfortune to be managed by charity and clinical intervention but a dimension of human diversity to be met with dignity, equality and the full force of law.   Twenty years on, the world gathered again. On 9 to 11 June 2026, the 19th Conference of States Parties to the Convention, known as COSP19, convened at United Nations Headquarters in New York at a significant moment, as the global community marked the twentieth anniversary of the convention’s adoption.   The occasion was described by organisers as marking the twentieth anniversary of the landmark treaty that transformed the global understanding of disability, from a charity and medical model to a human rights-based approach grounded in dignity, equality, autonomy and full participation. The rhetoric was appropriately solemn. The data, however, told a more uncomfortable story.   The Convention’s reach is extraordinary by the standards of international law. Now ratified by 192 countries, it is a legally binding agreement between member state signatories to uphold, promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities. The treaty was ratified quickly and broadly across the globe, and has been the impetus for domestic disability law and policy reform and for an elevation of disability rights in international policy frameworks and practices. By any formal measure, the convention is among the most successful legal instruments the United Nations has ever produced. It was negotiated during eight sessions of an Ad Hoc Committee of the General Assembly from 2002 to 2006, making it the fastest negotiated human rights treaty.   Yet legal reach and material change are not the same thing. The convention’s extraordinary ratification record has not translated into corresponding progress on the ground for the 1.3 billion people it is meant to protect. An estimated 1.3 billion people experience significant disability, representing 16% of the world’s population, or 1 in 6 of us. Some persons with disabilities die up to 20 years earlier than those without disabilities. Persons with disabilities have twice the risk of developing conditions such as depression, asthma, diabetes, stroke, obesity or poor oral health, and health inequities arise from unfair conditions including stigma, discrimination, poverty, exclusion from education and employment, and barriers in the health system itself.   The Hard Numbers   At COSP19, UN Secretary-General António Guterres confronted this contradiction directly. He acknowledged that over 90 per cent of countries now have laws guaranteeing the rights of persons with disabilities, but insisted much more must be done in light of the latest UN Disability and Development Report findings, which show that almost all of the Sustainable Development Goals indicators for persons with disabilities are off track. His summary was blunt and unsparing: “While progress is real, it is unacceptably slow.”   The economic picture is particularly stark. Persons with disabilities face persistent barriers in the labour market, with their participation rate 30 per cent lower than that of persons without disabilities. Youth with disabilities are particularly disadvantaged, being twice as likely to be not in education, employment or training compared to their non-disabled peers.   Persons with disabilities are more likely to experience adverse socioeconomic outcomes such as less education, poorer health outcomes, lower levels of employment, and higher poverty rates, and poverty may in turn increase the risk of disability through malnutrition, inadequate access to healthcare, unsafe working conditions, and a polluted environment. The relationship between disability and poverty is thus not simply correlational; it is mutually reinforcing and structural.   Only 28 per cent of people with significant disabilities have access to social protection benefits globally, while on average households with a person with a disability spend 14 per cent more of their income on healthcare. Only seven out of 169 SDG targets specifically address disability inclusion, and only 10 of their 231 indicators explicitly require disability data disaggregation, meaning that even the measurement systems themselves remain inadequate to the scale of the problem.   A World Designed for Others   The Secretary-General’s remarks at the General Assembly Hall struck a philosophical note as much as a political one. He observed that too often, living with a disability means living in a world designed by and for others, and that the world benefits when everyone has the chance to use their skills in the service of humanity and to pursue their dreams.   This framing is not merely rhetorical. The built environment, digital infrastructure, emergency response systems, transportation networks and healthcare architecture of most countries have been designed with the non-disabled majority as the default. Accessibility, when it exists, is frequently an afterthought, a ramp appended to a building after the fact rather than a dimension integrated into the original design.   Nowhere is this failure more consequential than in the face of global crises. Persons with disabilities are often among those most adversely affected in an emergency, sustaining disproportionately higher rates of morbidity and mortality, while being among those least able to access emergency support.   More than 1 billion people with disabilities, 80 per cent of whom live in low-income and middle-income countries, are disproportionately and differentially adversely affected by the climate change crisis, with substantially higher rates of mortality and greater harms in climate emergencies than their non-disabled counterparts.   Yet the policy response has been almost wilfully blind to this reality. A systematic analysis of climate policies adopted by 195 parties to the Paris Agreement found that only 41 parties mention people with disabilities in their nationally determined contributions, and only 75 do so in their adaptation policies, with these references rarely accompanied by concrete measures.   This is an astonishing omission. Climate change is not a future threat for persons with disabilities; it is a present emergency that is compounding existing exclusions. The formal recognition, announced in February 2026, of a Disability Caucus within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change represents a step forward, but the gap between institutional acknowledgement and operational inclusion remains enormous.   Guterres was candid that the United Nations itself must do more. He pointed to the UN’s Disability Inclusion Strategy as an attempt to lead by example, aiming to ensure change led by the insights of people with disabilities themselves. The Strategy, launched in 2019, was designed to provide a roadmap for disability inclusion across all pillars of the organisation’s work. Its intentions were admirable. Its implementation has been uneven.   An independent evaluation of the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy conducted in 2024 and 2025 found that while it has been an important catalyst for change, it has not yet achieved system-wide transformation. Progress has been uneven across organisations and countries, and tangible results for persons with disabilities remain limited.   The evaluation recommended revising the strategy to define a clearer vision, theory of change, and greater emphasis on participatory collaboration with persons with disabilities themselves. .   Disability inclusion, like gender equality and racial justice before it, has struggled to move from dedicated programme silos into the mainstream of institutional culture, budgeting and senior leadership accountability.   The gap between legal commitment and material change is, of course, a familiar pathology in international human rights. Treaties are easier to ratify than to implement. Governments that sign conventions do so in part because they face few short-term consequences for non-compliance; the monitoring mechanisms of the CRPD, though more robust than many comparable instruments, remain dependent on state reporting and goodwill.   While many countries have adopted or amended standalone disability laws, alignment with the CRPD remains uneven, with selective focus on certain rights such as accessibility and employment, and less attention to others including legal capacity, alongside persistent gaps in accountability infrastructure.   The data problem is intertwined with the implementation problem. If disability is poorly counted, it will be poorly addressed. Persons with disabilities are frequently excluded from the very data collection processes that are supposed to measure their situation, leading to systematic undercounting and a distorted picture of need. Without accurate data, governments can neither plan nor be held to account. The call for greater investment in disaggregated disability data is not a technocratic footnote; it is a precondition for any meaningful accountability.   There is also the question of resources. The CRPD imposes obligations on states to progressively realise the rights it enshrines, but progressive realisation requires progressive investment. For low- and middle-income countries, many of which face acute fiscal constraints while hosting the majority of the world’s disabled population, meeting these obligations demands sustained international support that has not always been forthcoming.   The main links between poverty and disability include dangerous living conditions, the absence or inaccessibility of medical care or rehabilitation, extra costs related to disability such as personal assistance and assistive devices, and limited access to education and employment. Addressing these links requires public investment at a scale that cannot be achieved through goodwill alone.   COSP19 arrived linked to broader global efforts to advance inclusive social development, including the outcomes of the Second World Social Summit held in Doha in 2025. The Doha summit’s emphasis on inequality and social protection provides a wider framework within which disability rights can be embedded, rather than treated as a niche concern. This integration matters. Disability is not a specialised subject for specialists; it intersects with every dimension of development: education, health, employment, housing, climate resilience, conflict response and democratic participation.   The conference itself, running under the theme of celebrating and consolidating achievements while shaping the next phase of implementation, featured roundtable discussions on creating a world free from exploitation and violence against persons with disabilities, and on resilient societies and strengthened care and support systems. Civil society organisations, including the World Blind Union and youth representatives from across the global south, brought first-hand voices to the General Assembly Hall. Their presence was a reminder of the convention’s founding principle: that those whom the law is designed to protect must be at the centre of its implementation.   Guterres’s challenge to redesign the world is not a metaphor. It is a concrete agenda. Accessible infrastructure, inclusive education, equitable employment practices, disability-responsive disaster planning, and genuine participation of persons with disabilities in governance at every level are not aspirations for some future decade. They are obligations that became legally binding in May 2008, when the convention entered into force. Every year of delay is a year in which those obligations are violated.   The convention’s twentieth anniversary offers a legitimate occasion to take stock of genuine progress. Laws have been enacted. Institutions have been established. Awareness, however imperfectly measured, has grown. The disability rights movement has won battles that would have seemed impossible in 1990.   But anniversaries are also occasions for honesty. The world’s 1.3 billion persons with disabilities are not waiting for the next convention, the next strategy document, or the next commemorative conference. They are living, right now, in systems that remain in too many places indifferent or hostile to their full humanity. That is the measure by which COSP19, and the next twenty years of implementation, will ultimately be judged.   * Editorial Aljazeera Centre for Public Liberties and Human Rights   http://cbm-global.org/blog/reflections-crpd-20 http://cbm-global.org/news http://www.edf-feph.org/20-years-of-the-convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-cosp-side-event-highlights-the-role-of-organisations-of-persons-with-disabilities/ http://liberties.aljazeera.com/en/slow-progress-twenty-years-of-disability-rights/ http://inclusion-international.org/news-item/the-crpd-turns-20-rights-must-mean-something/ http://www.hi-us.org/en/action/disability-rights http://cdinclusionafrica.org/blog-2/ http://www.icj.org/resource/africa-bridging-the-gap-to-realization-of-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/ http://www.icj.org/asia-pacific-kathmandu-declaration-launched-calling-for-action-to-ensure-access-to-justice-for-persons-with-disabilities/ http://www.ndrn.org/resource/fy27budgetcuts/ http://everyaustraliancounts.com.au/huge-proposed-changes-to-our-ndis-explained-and-why-we-must-speak-up-now/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2026/05/disability-inclusive-infrastructure-foundational-community-life-millions http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc6132-disability-inclusive-infrastructure-including-transport-and http://www.ohchr.org/en/topic/persons-disabilities Visit the related web page
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