Urbanization is one of the most important global trends of the 21st century. Today, more than half of the world’s population lives in cities and 15% of them are people with disabilities. Today there are more 60-year-olds than five-year-olds. By 2050, 70% of the world’s population will live in urban communities, including more than 2 billion people with disabilities and older (the latter group will make up 21% of the total population).
As populations grow and age rapidly, it is important that urbanization plans and policies address the rights and needs of older people and people with disabilities. The aim is to address risks, prevent growing inequalities and ensure that the obligations of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) are met, as well as recognizing their contributions to their families, neighborhoods and countries. These communities are repeatedly deprived of their rights, for example due to limited access to public transport; architectural barriers that impede their mobility; lack of spaces and services (e.g. lack of accessible restrooms or lack of information in Braille or audio) that limits their participation in society; social isolation due to lack of infrastructure or discrimination and widespread stigma towards people with disabilities.
By 2050, 70% of the world’s population will live in urban communities, including more than 2 billion people with disabilities and older
Building an inclusive and accessible future for all can only be achieved by promoting and adopting inclusive and sustainable city policies, services, infrastructure and products that work and make life easier for all people. Good examples of this are the inclusive urban planning models of Curitiba (Brazil), the traffic systems to improve accessibility in Mexico or the mobile solutions for people with visual impairments in Bangalore (India).
Accessibility is a right and a prerequisite for the participation of people with disabilities and older people in the life of their communities. Accessibility means ensuring that they have equal access to the physical environment around them, to transportation, information such as reading materials, communication technology and all other systems.
When cities and local governments are unaware and uneducated about accessibility, they can continue to put in place strategies, policies and programs that can reinforce existing barriers and create new accessibility problems, rather than bridging the gap and marginalizing and excluding people with disabilities to counteract.
Co-chaired by the Aging and Disability constituency groups of the General Assembly of Partners, the World Blind Union and World Enabled, the Accessibility Caucus is a coalition that includes representatives from organizations of people with disabilities and older people, networks, associations and strategic allies. They work together to advocate for accessibility and inclusion in urban design and hold local and regional governments to account.
Accessibility means ensuring that people with disabilities and older people have equal access to the physical environment, transport, information and all other systems around them.
Among the goals promoted by the caucus is to ensure the participation of these people in all phases of the development, implementation and monitoring of programs, policies and practices. They also recommend the development of indicators to measure and monitor inclusion and accessibility, and promote the promotion of inter-agency coordination at local, regional and national levels. For this, it is important that local and regional governments implement the Pact for the Future of Humanity, which was adopted by the organization United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) at the UCLG World Congress in Daejeon in 2022.
Even though many governments have ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, there are still many gaps in the application and lack of compliance with these rights. There is no convention on the rights of older people and the application of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging, which is voluntary in nature, is rare. Therefore, there is a need to act in accordance with the legal obligations and responsibilities of governments at all levels to promote, protect and fulfill human rights for all, including the right to equal access to services and spaces, the right to independence live and participate in the community.
Ultimately, accessibility is a human right, a requirement for inclusion, and a requirement for the realization of all other rights. To appreciate this, one has to accept that universal accessibility is a public good and an integral part of the right to the city. As stated in the eighth paragraph of the Katowice Declared Actions, “Accessibility for all and universal design are an integral part of solving the challenges of urbanization, including the urban crisis, and constitute the factor of transformative action for a more equitable urban future.” “.
Catherine Kline is a staff member of the United Nations Association for Non-Governmental Organizations.
Hannes Juhlin Lagrelius He is the coordinator of the World Blind Union’s Global Program for Inclusive and Accessible Urban Development. Both are Co-Chairs of the General Assembly of Partners for Seniors and People with Disabilities.
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