The Qatari Cultural Center for the Blind organized a workshop entitled (Sustainable Development Goals and their Applications in the Field of Disability) presented by an expert in social responsibility and sustainable development. Prof. Ali Al Ibrahim. The workshop coincides with Qatar Sustainability Week, and dealt with several topics, including: the concept of sustainable development and its goals, its historical development, the relationship of sustainable development to disability and tools to employ its goals for the benefit of empowering persons with disabilities.
It pointed out that the United Nations General Assembly adopted on September 25, 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The 169 goals and targets of the Plan cover themes including poverty, hunger, education, health, climate change, clean energy and responsible consumption and production, and require inclusive aspirations and commitments capable of change to facilitate inclusion in societies and enable everyone to realize their human potential with dignity. The announcement mentions persons with disabilities three times, and is explicitly referred to in seven of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals, where it emphasized the importance of integrating the issues of persons with disabilities as an integral part of sustainable development strategies.
During the workshop, it referred to the sustainable development goals, their objectives and indicators that refer directly to persons with disabilities, with an indication of the links between the components of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the 2023 Agenda, and indicated that the sustainable development goals include the eradication of poverty and hunger, good health, quality education, gender equality, clean and affordable water and energy, sustainable cities and communities, decent work, peace and justice.
As it also cited examples of the interdependence between the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the SDGs, and highlighted global initiatives in supporting persons with disabilities through the achievement of SDGs such as accessibility, education, health care, work and employment, standard of living, participation in political and public life, data collection and monitoring.