International Day of Persons with Disabilities

This year’s theme, determined by the UN, is “Building inclusive societies for persons with disabilities to drive social progress.”

Globally, persons with disabilities and their families continue to face significant barriers that hinder their full participation in social development. While progress has been made, inequalities persist, highlighting the importance of a renewed commitment to inclusion.

Challenges Still Too Prevalent

In many regions, people with disabilities face realities that limit their access to opportunities and quality of life:

• An increased risk of poverty, due to limited access to employment, education, or social services.
• Persistent discrimination in the labor market, resulting in lower wages, fewer job opportunities, and overrepresentation in the informal sector.
• Inequitable or inadequate social protection systems that fail to adequately integrate the additional costs associated with disability and often exclude people from the informal sector.
• Care and support experiences still marked by a lack of respect for the dignity, autonomy, and empowerment of people with disabilities.

These realities demonstrate that, beyond existing measures, the necessary transformations must be profound and systemic.

Inclusion: An Essential Condition for Social Progress

Social development rests on three inseparable pillars:

• The eradication of poverty,
• The promotion of full and productive employment and decent work for all,
• Social integration.

These objectives are mutually reinforcing and cannot be achieved without an environment that fosters the participation of the entire population, including people with disabilities. Their inclusion, as actors and beneficiaries of social development, is not only essential: it is indispensable.

A theme that embodies a renewed global commitment

The theme of the 2025 edition, “Building inclusive societies for persons with disabilities to drive social progress,” builds on the commitments made by world leaders at the Second World Summit on Social Development. They reaffirmed their commitment to building a fairer, more inclusive, more equitable, and more sustainable world.

This vision rests on a strong conviction: social progress can only be real and sustainable if everyone can contribute to and benefit from it, without exception.

Together, towards a truly inclusive society

The 2025 International Day of Persons with Disabilities is an opportunity to reiterate that inclusion is not a secondary objective, but an essential foundation for a thriving society. Breaking down barriers, adapting systems, guaranteeing rights, and valuing the participation of everyone, this is what it takes to build a future where progress is truly shared.