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The International Day of Persons with Disabilities, observed on the 3rd December each year since 1992, is a day dedicated to promoting the rights, inclusion and wellbeing of both visibly and non-visibly disabled people. The day aims to raise awareness of disabled lives, emphasising the importance of working together to address inequalities and create inclusive environments whilst also celebrating the achievements and contributions of disabled people.
The theme of this year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities is “United in action to rescue and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for, with and by disabled persons”.
The SDGs are a set of 17 global goals established by the United Nations (UN) as a call to action to address a variety of social, economic, and environmental challenges. Although the SDGs were adopted in 2015, progress for many has since either stalled or regressed below the 2015 baseline with COVID-19 and climate change related disasters being stated as just some of the reasons for this. Preliminary findings from the UN Disability and Development Report 2023 suggest that the setbacks in meeting SDGs are even more prominent for disabled people and the commitment to addressing challenges and barriers needs to be intensified.
The 2023 theme of International Day of Persons with Disabilities highlights the importance of eliminating societal barriers and challenges that disabled individuals face, putting the onus on society to be more inclusive, rather than viewing disability as a personal flaw requiring correction.
Employers should acknowledge International Day of Persons with Disabilities by communicating their own commitments to disability inclusion and how they plan to tackle any inequalities or barriers to success for disabled people in the workplace.
Here are some of the ways that employers can take action to accelerate progress on the SDGs for, with and by disabled people.
SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing focuses on ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing for all. Employers should consider reviewing any workplace wellness programmes, services and resources to ensure they are inclusive of and accessible for disabled colleagues. Engaging disabled colleagues in this review is critical to understanding their specific needs.
SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth aims to achieve full and productive employment for all. In the UK only 53.7% of disabled people are employed compared to 82.7% of non-disabled people. Employers need to ensure their recruitment practices are inclusive to attract and hire disabled people, such as sharing job advertisements on disability-specific job boards and ensuring the application process is accessible. The government’s Disability Confident Scheme also recommends that organisations offer an interview to any disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job, as this encourages disabled people to apply and provides an opportunity for them to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities.
Employers can also address SDG 8 by offering workplace adjustments to support disabled colleagues in performing their role effectively. Avoid asking colleagues what their disability is and instead ask what support they need. There should be a clear and accessible process for requesting accommodations that is communicated with all applicants, new hires and existing colleagues.SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities relates to income inequality and employers should be ensuring that disabled colleagues receive equal pay for equal work. Collecting colleague disability data and producing a disability pay gap report will allow employers to address any pay disparities.
SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals emphasises the need for collaboration and partnerships to address the unique challenges faced by disabled people. Members of the WiHTL & Diversity in Retail (DiR) Collaboration Community are already using the various forums available to them, such as the online Hub platform and the quarterly Accessibility Committee meetings to share insights and learnings on various disability related policies and initiatives.
The WiHTL & DiR Accessibility Committee aims to create awareness and education around the challenges faced by those employees and customers who identify as disabled, either visible or non-visible and co-creates tangible actions to tackle those challenges which can be implemented across organisations. In 2023 representatives from over 45 member organisations attended the Committee meetings to discuss topics such as removing disability stigma, disability employee network groups, educational resources and inclusive technology.
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