Declaring our intentions: the opportunity of the World Summit for Social Development

With only five years to go, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are significantly off track.

According to the 2025 Sustainable Development Goals report, nearly half of all SDG targets are showing minimal progress, and 18% are stalled or regressing.

The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development promised to ‘leave no one behind’. This means that it cannot be considered a success unless people with disabilities are included and benefit from development progress. Several of the 17 SDGs and their targets also include crucial references to disability.

In an environment of reducing development assistance, the upcoming World Summit for Social Development is a critical opportunity that must be taken: not only to close social development gaps left by the low achievement of the global goals, but also to reaffirm commitments to the Copenhagen Declaration (which promises improved social development through funding and collaboration).

The summit has three focus themes: poverty eradication, employment and decent work and social inclusion. And one of its key outcomes will be a political declaration, negotiated and agreed by the 193 countries who are members of the United Nations.

For Sightsavers, as an organisation that campaigns for disability rights and factors them into all our health and inclusion projects, our aim is to influence the process so the political declaration includes people with disabilities and safeguards their rights.

The declaration: what’s working and what needs work?

The political declaration will express shared goals, commitments, or principles on social development. It sets a framework for cooperation between countries and will be agreed by consensus. The process includes a number of steps during which different drafts are discussed and amended.

We have reviewed the latest draft and welcome the inclusion of references to disability in the latest draft of the political declaration and acknowledge that these have been significantly strengthened since the last draft.

To ensure progress is not lost, it is vital that all language related to disability, equity, inclusion, and accessibility is retained in the final version.

While the points above are positive, the final version of the declaration needs work if we want it to genuinely improve the lives of people who are still being left behind. Here are some of our recommendations.

1. Strengthen the core principles section to highlight the importance of multi-stakeholder engagement

Multi-stakeholder engagement means meaningfully including all groups, including civil society. This inclusivity would make the declaration more reflective of different perspectives and needs, it also increases its legitimacy, collaboration and responsibility.

2. Include specific commitment to ensure the target to expand coverage of social protection is inclusive of people with disabilities

This will ensure it addresses systemic exclusion and inequality. It will also support states in upholding human rights and their obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), at a time when rights are being threatened.

3. Strengthen the follow up and review

This will ensure that the words of the declaration are translated into action by securing strong commitment to follow up from the declaration within a reasonable time period.

Progress towards inclusion

The political declaration represents a significant step forward in prioritising disability inclusion in global development agendas. The increase in disability language coupled with targeted paragraphs on CRPD implementation, social protection, and inclusive housing, indicates an important shift towards equity and accessibility.

The declaration and the summit itself must have active collaboration with people with disabilities and their representative organisations, so that discussions can lead to policies that are not only inclusive, but also responsive to the diverse needs of people with different impairments, of different ages, living in different contexts.

By building on the foundation set by the current draft, we can make progress towards a world where people with disabilities are fully empowered to participate in and benefit from social development. The journey toward inclusion is far from over, but this political declaration could be a powerful catalyst for change.

Elizabeth’s testimony

Elizabeth, a young woman with albinism from Nigeria, faced bullying and exclusion from her teachers throughout her primary and secondary education which ignited in her a passion to become a teacher. She now designs safe learning environments for students and supports other teachers to do the same. She has become a vocal advocate for disability rights and wants to represent and amplify the voices of young people with disabilities across Africa.

The minimal progress of the SDG goals, especially for persons with disabilities, means there is no better time than now to use the World Summit for Social Development as a platform to fully involve representatives of the world’s 1.3 billion people with disabilities in the conversation. This inclusion will offer clear first-hand insights into the daily challenges faced by people with disabilities, ranging from exclusion to discrimination and other accessibility issues, directly showing how they relate to the delayed achievement of the SDGs. It will also help to address the multiple barriers that limit effective follow-up procedures on policies and projects for disability inclusion by giving direct feedback to the policymakers in the room.

We need representation of people with a variety of impairment types and must also factor in other forms of intersectionality such as gender, nationality, age, race and socioeconomic status, to ensure that lived experiences are captured through multiple and diverse lenses.

The constructive inclusion of people with disabilities is essential, not only as spectators of the summit but also as speakers, panellists, active participants and influencers of the entire outcome of the summit. The countdown to the summit should open a timely window for all countries to begin deep reflections about ways to reach comprehensive inclusive agreements, which will strengthen the overall outcome of the World Summit for Social Development but also leave the world with a clearer insight into the steps and benefits of inclusion both at the summit and beyond. This will reinforce the saying ‘Nothing about us without us’.

The benefits of including people with disabilities in these processes are multifaceted. It will empower them to have a stronger voice in shaping policies that directly affect their lives, share their personal stories, advocate on global levels and drive more equitable and sustainable development in society. This inclusion is not only beneficial, but also essential, as it will be a significant step towards achieving a truly inclusive society that leaves no one behind.