Presenter warns CRPD gains at risk as UN report finds disability targets off track

A presenter marking the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities said the treaty has expanded access and recognition for people with disabilities but warned those gains are at risk amid multiple global crises.

The presenter said the convention helped "shift the paradigm of disability" from a medical and charity model to one centered on human rights and described that conceptual change as a major achievement. According to the presenter, the latest United Nations disability and development report shows that almost all Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators for persons with disabilities are off track, meaning progress has been "real" but "unacceptably slow."

The speaker warned that the world is facing a "whirlwind of crisis" — naming climate change, armed conflict and a global surge in the cost of living — and said those trends risk eroding earlier advances on disability rights. The presenter said that when conflicts or disasters strike, "persons with disabilities are among the first to lose — lose their jobs, lose access, lose their lives," and added that crises can also lead to new disabilities and long-term mental-health impacts.

The presenter called on policymakers and responders to keep the needs of persons with disabilities "front and center" in crisis planning and response to avoid further backsliding. No formal proposals, votes or specific policy actions were announced during the remarks, and the date and venue of the statement were not specified in the transcript.