Second Session of the Working Group on the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities, 2-3 March 2015, New Delhi, agreed on actions to enhance disability-inclusive development

The Second Session of the Working Group on the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities was organized by ESCAP (SDD in cooperation with SRO-SSWA) and hosted by the Government of India. H.E. Mr. Thaawarchand Gehlot, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, inaugurated the Session, reaffirming the Government of India's commitment to regional cooperation on disability-inclusive development in Asia and the Pacific. The Working Group comprises membership of 15 governments and 15 civil society organizations, all of which were selected by the Commission to sit on this mandated intergovernmental Working Group to oversee the implementation of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities, 2013-2022. The Session reviewed the implementation of the Incheon Strategy thus far, the draft Operational Guide on Disability-inclusive Meetings, and discussed the status of disability inclusion in the draft Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and explored different ways to enhance disability data collection for the Incheon Strategy indicators towards the mid-point review of its implementation in 2017 for all member States.

The Session concluded with agreement on a set of actions to be taken by Working Group members, including the following: i) the Government of Thailand will host the Third Session of the Working Group in early 2016; ii) the Government of India will submit the Incheon Strategy to the Statistics Division of DESA in New York in order to promote the development of comprehensive disability-inclusive indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals; iii) a task force comprised of select Working Group members will be set up to develop an e-forum on the exchange of legal and administrative good practices on disability-inclusive development and to promote the implementation of the Incheon Strategy among other member States.