Global Disability Summit throws spotlight on disabled people worldwide

People with psychosocial and learning disabilities are among the most discriminated group against in the disability space. This was a major alert sounded by campaigners at the first Global Disability Summit currently being held in the United Kingdom (UK).

Campaigners say that this is a group that is subject to forced treatment and medication. people with mental health disorders are kept away from society.

The summit, which is being hosted by the UK, the Kenyan government and the International Disability Alliance is the largest ever gathering of disabled people, governments, charities and business leaders. The aim is to ensure that people with disabilities are included in both policymaking and society.

Leaders here plan to ask governments to move beyond words to actually act upon improving the lives of disabled people.

Campaigners say that be it the richest country or the poorest, people with psychosocial disability, like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, or learning disability face the biggest hurdles.

More than 170 countries around the world have signed up to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of of Persons with Disabilities.

While some developed countries are cutting back on resources for disabled people, the poorer countries are also cutting back on social spending to pay for loans. There is hope that the summit will encourage governments around the world to turn their words into action.

There is still not enough understanding of the barriers disabled people face, mainly because there is very little data. Many governments don’t know how many disabled people there are in their countries, making policymaking a challenge.