Why does disability matter to International Development – Part 1

The last few steps have shown us why disability matters both globally, and in terms of the personal experiences and perspectives of people with disabilities from different places around the world.

We now know that there are over 1 billion people with disabilities globally, and they are more likely to be poor and excluded from a range of aspects of life. It’s therefore really important to focus on the inclusion of people with disabilities in the global development agenda, given that they are both a large group, and a vulnerable one.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were agreed in 2015 and are a dominant influence on the global development agenda between 2015 – 2030. We’ll get to know the SDGs in more detail over the next few steps.

Let’s start with this video. Watch it to learn a little bit about what the SDGs are, before we consider how they relate to disability. Please note that this video has no audio. Each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals are also listed below the video link.

This video belongs to the United Nations Foundation. For those unable to watch the embedded video, please see the downloadable SDGs poster in the “See Also” section of this step.

Once you’ve watched the video or read through the goals below, reflect on how relevant you think each of the goals are for people with disabilities, and then see if you are right by taking the quiz in the next step.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals:

• GOAL 1: No Poverty

• GOAL 2: Zero Hunger

• GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-being

• GOAL 4: Quality Education

• GOAL 5: Gender Equality

• GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

• GOAL 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

• GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

• GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

• GOAL 10: Reduced Inequality

• GOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

• GOAL 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

• GOAL 13: Climate Action

• GOAL 14: Life Below Water

• GOAL 15: Life on Land

• GOAL 16: Peace and Justice Strong Institutions

• GOAL 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal