WeThe15 is sports largest ever human rights campaign and aims to transform the lives of the one billion people globally who have a disability.
Launching at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, WeThe15 is a ten-year campaign focussed on empowering and advancing the lives of people with disabilities.
15% of the world’s population has a disability – that’s one billion people. Yet very few people know that persons with disabilities account for the world’s largest marginalised group and still face discrimination every day, at all levels of society. We experience fewer education opportunities, poorer health outcomes, lower levels of employment, and higher poverty rates.
COVID-19 has also disproportionately impacted people with disabilities. But as the world reopens, there is an opportunity to fundamentally change the way one billion people are treated around the world. It’s time for people with disabilities to have barriers to participation in society removed and it’s time for countries around the world to create more inclusive societies aligned with the United Nations 2030 Agenda of leaving no one behind.
At a time when diversity and inclusion are hot topics, the 15% want effective change – we want to remove the inequality, the inactivity and the focus purely on race, gender and sexuality. We want to have a movement they can rally behind. A global movement that is publicly campaigning for disability visibility, inclusion and accessibility.
We can do this by uniting international and sporting bodies, corporates, governments, the public and NGOs and disability rights groups behind the WeThe15 campaign. We will change attitudes and create more opportunities for persons with disabilities, as well as improve mobility and accessibility by:
· Putting disability at the heart of the diversity and inclusion agenda.
· Implementing a range of activities over the next decade to drive social inclusion for persons with disabilities.
· Breaking down societal and systemic barriers that are preventing persons with disabilities from fulfilling their potential and being active members of society.
· Ensuring greater awareness, visibility, and representation of persons with disabilities.
People with disabilities are not others to be saved or feared. Disability is not special, it is not superhuman, it is not a punishment, it is simply part of everyday life.
We are creating an environment whereby those who still feel they need to hide or disguise their disability are empowered to come forward should they so wish, and safely and publicly show their true selves.
WeThe15 will use sport as a platform to give persons with disabilities a much-needed voice at a time when they need it the most. Harnessing sport’s unique ability to create positive change, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), Special Olympics and Invictus Games Foundation will work together for the first time in history to empower and advance the lives of persons with disabilities.
Joining sport in this decade of action are International Disability Alliance (IDA), UN Human Rights, World Health Organization, World Bank, UN SDG Action Campaign, The Valuable 500, Global Citizen, Global Disability Innovation Hub, UN Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC), International Disability and Development Consortium, AT Scale, Zero Project, and the Global Alliance of Assistive Technology Organisations (GAATO).
Every single person on this planet can make a difference by considering how their actions impact persons with disabilities. Change can start in every community. Change can start with you.
Join us in sharing #WeThe15.
