CBM Statement by CEO Dr Rainer Brockhaus at the 15th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

"I am speaking on behalf of CBM Christian Blind Mission, we are an international development and humanitarian organisation dedicated to improving the quality of life of persons with disabilities. Our vision is an inclusive world in which all persons with disabilities enjoy their human rights and achieve their full potential. To achieve this we are currently active in almost 50 countries worldwide.

CBM believes that persons with disabilities must be part of all conversations and decision- making processes in society. This is their right - and only by including the voices of persons with disabilities can we rebuild a society that is more accessible, equitable, more inclusive, resilient, and more sustainable than the one prior to Covid 19.

Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) provide the platform so that persons with disabilities can become true leaders of change. CBM works to strengthen the capacities of these organisations and to raise awareness among local, national, and international stakeholders as to their critical role in international development and humanitarian assistance.

We want to encourage duty-bearers to fulfil their obligation to closely consult with and actively involve persons with disabilities, through their representative organisations.

At the Global Disability Summit 2022, we committed ourselves to expand our cooperation with OPDs to promote all rights of persons with disabilities across all areas of our programmes, advocacy, humanitarian, and advisory work. We will specifically work to improve the availability and quality of community level support. We also pledged to continue to strengthen the capacities of other actors towards disability-inclusive work and we will continue to strengthen the humanitarian capacities of OPDs.

For the implementation of these and our many other commitments across the menu of commitments at the Global Disability Summit 2022, we pledged to dedicate all our programmatic expenditures of 315 million Euros until 2030. Today, we reiterate this promise. We hope to inspire others, particularly States Parties, to make and honour ambitious financial and substantive commitments.

Thank you very much for your attention."