In December 2022, the General Assembly of the United Nations passed a Resolution on ‘promoting and mainstreaming easy-to-understand communication for accessibility for persons with disabilities’.
The United Nations General Assembly is one of the United Nations bodies. Representatives of the 193 countries that are part of the United Nations meet to discuss important issues for the world and adopt resolutions.
A resolution is a decision made after a discussion by the members of the United Nations General Assembly. It is adopted when approved by most of the member States.
This is an important resolution because currently a lot of communication in the United Nations and around the world is not easy-to-understand.
Using easy-to-understand communication means people with intellectual disabilities can take part.
This resolution was first drafted by Brazil and presented by Brazil and a group of countries. Poland and Finland are in full support of the resolution.
Down Syndrome International (DSi) and Inclusion International (II) are the two global organisations of persons with disabilities representing people with intellectual disabilities and their families. They have been discussing with the missions about good examples since its adoption and thinking of ways to disseminate the resolution.
UN easy-to-understand communication resolution
UN easy-to-understand communication resolution - plain language summary
Introduction to easy-to-understand communication
The objectives of the side-event are to:
The event will give space for self-advocates with intellectual disabilities to share their experiences and expertise and for Permanent Missions to outline their approaches to making communication accessible.
The side-event will be held in person at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, Conference Room 4.
It will last for one hour and 15 minutes.
It will be an interactive session with some presentations and then a panel discussion.
The event will be in English and sign language interpretation will be available.
The event is co-organized by Down Syndrome International, Inclusion International, and the Permanent Mission of Poland to the United Nations.
The event is co-sponsored by The Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations, The Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations, The Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations, The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Tunisia to the United Nations, The International Disability Alliance, Down Syndrome Australia, Instituto Jo-Clemente, Brazil, and Inclusion Canada.
Meeting agenda for our side event. Read more
Meet the people who will speak at our side event. Read more
Answers to frequently asked questions about this event. Read more
Thank you to the sponsors of this event. Read more
Listen Include Respect is the global guidelines on inclusive participation, created directly from the knowledge and experience of people with intellectual disabilities. Read more