The Halifax Regional Municipality is proud to celebrate the 2020 International Day of People with Disabilities. While there is no formal flag-raising ceremony due to COVID-19, the International Day of People with Disabilities flag will fly at City Hall.
We will also be celebrating International Day for People with Disabilities online, with a virtual portal created in collaboration with Halifax Public Libraries. https://www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca/international-day-for-persons-with-disabilities/
History of IDPWD
In 1976, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 1981 as the International Year of Disabled Persons. The goal was to call for a plan of action all national, international, and regional levels of government to focus on equal opportunities, rehabilitation for, and prevention of disabilities. The theme of the 1981’s event was Full Participation and Equality. The theme encouraged the rights of people with disabilities to take part in all aspects of life and development of their societies, which includes living conditions equal to those of the able-bodied and an equal share in improving conditions resulting from socio-economic development.
The United Nations declared 1983 to 1992 to be the Decade of Disabled Persons. That decade was to give governments and organizations a timeframe in which they could organize activities recommended in the World Programme of Action.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was drafted by the UN in 2006, signed by Canada and 19 other countries in 2007. That convention is the 21st-century’s first human rights treaty adopted by the General Assembly and provides that states signing it should enact laws and other measures to improve the rights of people with disabilities. The convention also abolishes legislation, customs, and practices that discriminates against people with disabilities. Canada signed the Optional Protocol in 2018.