ESCAP participated in the official launch of the Urdu version of the Incheon Strategy in Islamabad, Pakistan. The move came as part of renewed efforts by the Government of Pakistan to strengthen laws and policies that protect and promote the rights of persons with disabilities.
The Urdu-language version of the Incheon Strategy was launched at the First South Asia Conference on the Role of Women with Disabilities in Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals, held in Islamabad on 22 January 2016. The Conference was organized by the South Asia Disability Forum in collaboration with the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus of Pakistan, STEP, the Aurat Foundation, Sightsavers, the British Council, the National Forum of Women with Disabilities in Pakistan, CBM, and the Women’s Refugee Commission. Over one hundred representatives of ministries and CSOs in Afghanistan, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participated in the Conference.
The Incheon Strategy is the Asia-Pacific region's agreed set of 10 disability-inclusive development goals, accompanied by with 27 targets and 62 indicators, to secure the inclusion of persons with disabilities in wider development processes. Pakistan is the eleventh country in the region to launch a national-language version of the Strategy.