Last week was International Development Week in Canada which many people and organizations celebrate with the 2026 theme, Prosperity through Partnership. The theme highlights its importance of partnerships across local, national, and global initiatives to achieve the goals of eradicating poverty and creating a better world.
Partnerships provide an opportunity to include different perspectives and inputs on the same issue. It creates the space to be accountable to the community’s diverse and intersectional needs. Partnerships also provide the opportunities for shared resources and information to support the Sustainable Development Goals.
The different perspectives and input also includes the disability lens, especially when considering the intersectionality to location, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicities, financial, and abilities. As the largest minority group that anyone can belong to at any time, it is critical to do development with access in mind. Without accessibility in the planning and execution, the progress will not be sustainable and more resources will be needed to retrofit what was built and created. We also need to consider the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in every sector and action to ensure that persons with disabilities can and are meaningfully included in their communities.
There is work being done across local, national, and international spaces to ensure that persons with disabilities are included in the conversations surrounding decisions that affect their quality of life. While every person and organization should be considering accessibility and disability inclusion in their work, there are organizations such as International Disability Alliance and its memebers, World Institute on Disability,Disability Rights International, and Humanity and Inclusion. Many organizations have their own goals and approach to help persons with disabilities and include the perspective of disability in a space that typically leaves persons with disabilities behind.
It is difficult to truly be inclusive without everyone considering accessibility and disability into their work including international work. Both from the perspective of Nothing About Us Without Us and how anyone can join the community at any moment, it is important to consider persons with disabilities and accessibility in every aspect of society to reach the goals of sustainable development.