Mr. President,

The Philippines congratulates you and the members of the Bureau on your election. We assure you of our country’s continued support and cooperation.

The upcoming Summit of the Future recognizes the crucial fact that “the world is not on track to meet the goals we have already set for ourselves” and that the global community is neither “effectively rising to new challenges or opportunities.” In the Philippines, while strides have been made in terms of disability inclusion, SDG targets and indicators relating to disability are one of those that are not on track. 

While we understand the concept of progressive realization, this should not be a blanket response to gaps or delays in the realization of the human rights of persons with disability. Governments around the world should act with urgency in terms of ramping up efforts for disability inclusion if we are truly to “leave no one behind”.  It is important for States Parties to the CRPD to support strong language and references to persons with disabilities in the Pact for the Future to highlight how the international community could ensure that the rights of persons with disabilities are respected and fulfilled.

The Philippines uses a “whole-of-society” approach on disabilities issues. This recognizes the importance of the role of the private sector, advocacy groups, the academe, and of course, persons with disabilities themselves. In a way, this borrows from the Filipino concept of “bayanihan” – where every member of society contributes for the good of all.

Some of the initiatives we are working on in this regard include: empowering persons with disabilities thru innovative education and capability-building; inclusive social protection by transitioning disability employment from informal to formal economy; equitable fiscal allocation with government employment and livelihood programs; and decentralizing programs and services through local investment on disability, among others.

The Philippines also intends to strengthen data driven programs and policies by revisiting the national data gathering tool and adding variables to cover needed information on case management and geo-tagging for disaster data management system for person with disabilities. We are likewise synchronizing available data from the local government unit as well as data available from the NGOs and CSOs.

Amplifying the voices unique to the different sub-sectors in the disability community should also be emphasized, recognizing that the disability sector is not homogenous. Inclusion should be not merely tokenistic but should stem from proper and empowered representation. 

Thank you.