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The United Nations has announced the theme for this year's International Day of Persons with Disabilities:
"The CRPD at 20: Building on progress, advancing the future."
The theme marks twenty years since the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 13 December 2006. The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) says it invites reflection on what the Convention has meant, an honest look at two decades of progress, and ways to strengthen how it is put into practice.
Why the CRPD matters
The Convention changed how the world talks about disability: from charity to rights, and from things done for persons with disabilities to decisions made with us. Kenya ratified it in 2008. The Persons with Disabilities Act 2025 is the latest step in bringing it home.
What the UN will focus on
UN DESA will hold a three hour commemoration at UN Headquarters in New York on 3 December, from 10am to 1pm New York time (6pm to 9pm in Kenya). The day is guided by the principle "Nothing about us without us", and has three parts:
- Looking back: the adoption of the Convention and what it has changed.
- Taking stock: progress and remaining barriers in accessible information and communication, including accessible technology, accessible media and inclusive design.
- New strategies for new realities: how arts, culture, design, innovation and digital technology can create decent work, cultural participation and inclusion for persons with disabilities.
UN DESA says what comes out of the day will feed into UN policy work, including the 2027 SDG Summit.
Why it speaks to us
Accessible media and the creative economy are not abstract ideas at Include360. They are what we do. We are a media platform built by journalists, DJs, podcasters and creators with disabilities, telling our own stories and earning from our own work. A global spotlight on exactly that is welcome, and overdue.
What happens in Kenya
The date and host county for Kenya's national celebration will be announced by the national organisers. Follow it on our What's happening page, and read what last year's celebration in Lodwar delivered.
Twenty years on, the question for every country, Kenya included, is simple: how much of the Convention do persons with disabilities actually feel in their daily lives?
How are you marking the day? Tell us.
Sources: UN DESA, 2026 International Day of Persons with Disabilities, UN DESA concept note.
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