Future events
Past events
December 2020
UN disability committee vote
At the Conference of States Parties to the UN disability convention, we find out if the disability committee has achieved gender parity (at least three more women must be elected).
September 2020
Global Goals 10-year countdown
There are just 10 years left to achieve the UN’s Global Sustainable Development Goals to tackle extreme poverty and climate change – but disability inclusion is critical for this to happen, so we need to keep it on the political agenda.
July 2020
Our COVID-19 petition closes
We hand our petition in virtually to the UN and its member countries, accompanied by an open letter.
May 2020
COVID-19 disability rights petition launches
We launch our call for the UN and its member countries to make sure the global response to COVID-19 doesn’t leave people with disabilities behind.

December 2019
Petition hand-in at the United Nations
We hand in our Equal World petition for disability rights to Ana Maria Menéndez, Under-Secretary-General and the UN Secretary-General’s Senior Adviser on Policy.

December 2019
Will you fight with us?
Our new campaign film launches, starring disability activists and campaigners from around the world.

September 2019
Campaign support grows worldwide
By the time of the UN General Assembly, the Equal World campaign has reached people in Bangladesh, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea, India, Kenya, Mali, Malawi, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Uganda.

June 2019
Equal World petition launches
Our petition calls on the UN and its member states to uphold the rights of people with disabilities. In 14 countries there are also national-level calls for disability legislation to be implemented. Read more

March 2019
Equal World global campaign launches
We launch our global call for disability rights at the United Nations in New York.

February 2019
Ireland campaign launches
Our photo exhibition featuring people with disabilities in Cameroon launches our campaigning work in Ireland, with an aim of making sure Ireland’s global development policy is inclusive of people with disabilities.

December 2018
UK government publishes disability strategy
Our first campaign call from 2013 is met as the UK government publishes its strategy outlining how it’ll ensure all its work is inclusive of people with disabilities.

December 2018
International Day of People with Disabilities 2018
The IDPD 2018 marks the five-year anniversary of our campaign, and we celebrate everything you’ve helped achieve since 2013!

July 2018
Global Disability Summit held in London
The UK Department for International Development co-hosts a disability summit – our supporters take action to #MakeItCount, and more than 170 commitments on inclusive development are made.

June 2018
UN disability committee elections
Following our call for an #EqualUN, elections are held for nine available positions on the UN disability committee. Six women are elected, including Sightsavers’ Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame!

March 2018
Calling for better representation
We attend the Commission on the Status of Women in New York, to call for an #EqualUN with better representation of women on the UN disability committee.

December 2017
Our programme participants feature in campaign film
We launch a campaign video featuring people with disabilities from around the world talking about the discrimination they’ve faced and the impact of inclusion.

December 2017
Great news from the UK government
The UK Department for International Development announces it will host a global disability summit in July 2018.

December 2016
UK government commits to prioritising people with disabilities
The Secretary of State announces she will prioritise people with disabilities in the government’s international development work: a major win for the campaign.

April 2016
We grill the UN Secretary-General candidates
Campaigner Harriet from Uganda asks the candidates for UN Secretary-General how they’ll include people with disabilities if elected (see the response here).

December 2015
Disability Framework makes progress
The UK government publishes its second Disability Framework, identifying the progress it has made towards including people with disabilities in international development.

September 2015
Disability rights are included in the Global Goals
World leaders meet in New York to agree the Sustainable Development Goals (a set of global goals to combat extreme poverty and climate change) and for the very first time in development, people with disabilities are explicitly included!

August 2015
Framing Perceptions launch
Framing Perceptions, a photo exhibition about people with disabilities living in India, is displayed in London and later in New York. The exhibition features photographs by award-winning Guardian photographer Graeme Robertson.

September 2014
We take our petition to Number 10
Our 20,000-signature petition, calling on the UK government to make people with disabilities an international development priority, is delivered to parliament.

June 2014
The UK commits to disability-inclusive development
The UK government publishes its first ever Disability Framework, setting the UK on an exciting, challenging and ambitious path towards disability inclusion in its work.

December 2013
Our disability campaign launches!
The campaign, launched as Put Us in the Picture, aims to make sure people with disabilities aren’t left behind in the worldwide fight against poverty.