The Regional Forum on Advancing Disability-inclusive Development through the Beijing Action Plan was held on 18 and 19 December 2019 in Guangzhou, China.
The Regional Forum brought together representatives and experts from Asia-Pacific governments, civil society and disabled people’s organization to support ESCAP member States in accelerating the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Action Plan to Accelerate the Implementation of the Incheon Strategy to “Make the Rights Real” for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific (thereafter referred to as the “Beijing Declaration and Action Plan”).
Through diverse, innovative formats ranging from café-style presentations and interactive panels to keynote dialogues and expert presentations, participants had the opportunity to explore the latest policy and programmatic approaches in disability-inclusive development across themes such as social protection, employment, accessibility, women’s empowerment and statistics, while expressing their specific needs for technical assistance support in these areas.
The Regional Forum thus successfully achieved the following objectives:
Review progress, identify gaps and challenges, and share good practices and lessons learnt in the implementation of the Incheon Strategy and Beijing Action Plan;
Identify the needs of ESCAP member States for technical cooperation to accelerate the implementation of the Incheon Strategy and Beijing Action Plan.
Adopted in December 2017 at the High-Level Intergovernmental Meeting on the Midpoint Review of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities 2013-2022, the Beijing Declaration and Action Plan provides strategic guidance on developing concrete policy measures for all 10 goals of the Incheon Strategy to Make the Rights Real.
The Regional Forum was co-organized by ESCAP and the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, with support from the Guangdong Disabled Persons’ Federation, the Guangdong Lions Club, Rehabilitation International and the United Nations Population Fund.