MIKTA Statement – COSP13

Mr President,

I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the MIKTA countries, , , the Republic of Korea, and .

We, the MIKTA countries, are pleased to join the 13th Session of the Conference of State Parties (COSP) to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

We acknowledge with appreciation the efforts of the Bureau under the Presidency of Ecuador to enable this delayed and reformatted Conference to proceed. The rights of people with disabilities are simply too important to be set aside, even during a pandemic.

We recognise that people with disabilities have been disproportionately impacted by the health, economic and social impacts of COVID-19, and face barriers to accessing essential services, including medicines, vaccines and medical equipment. We urge all parties to make their COVID-19 response and recovery efforts disability-inclusive, and protect the rights and needs of persons with disabilities.

Mr President,

We welcome the theme of this year’s Conference “A decade of action and delivery for inclusive sustainable development: implementing the CRPD and the 2030 Agenda for all persons with disabilities”, and the cross-cutting focus on capacity building, particularly for women and girls with disabilities.

We commend the Secretary-General for his leadership in promoting disability inclusion across the UN system and for the development of the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS).

We MIKTA, support the implementation of this strategy and encourage other Member States to actively seek opportunities to support this important work.

Mr President,

We recognise the importance of including people with disabilities through meaningful participation in society.

We are committed to an active and central role for people with disabilities and building the capacity of their representative organisations so they are equipped to advocate and raise awareness for disability rights and inclusion at all levels.

Mr President,

We remain committed to the need to collect and disaggregate data by disability and we urge Member States to take appropriate steps to ensure the collection and analysis of disability data, including through the use of the Washington Group short set of questions.

Disaggregating data by disability will enable us to more accurately monitor implementation of the CRPD and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Mr President,

As we move into the Decade of Action, our focus needs to be on implementing our commitments under the CRPD and the 2030 Agenda. MIKTA countries remain committed to working collaboratively to realise this goal and a world in which no one is left behind.