At the initiative of the Israeli Delegation to the UN in Geneva and the Foreign Affairs Ministry, a special event was held on Thursday to mark the International Day for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Meirav Eilon Shahar declared on this occasion that for the first time, "we have decided to break the taboo of the sexuality of people with disabilities and to raise this issue at the UN," adding that "the immediate response of our partners shows how important and new the issue is, and how much equal attention is paid to people with disabilities."
"By presenting the personal stories and human faces of the project participants, we believe a deeper understanding of their needs and the realities of their lives will be created," Shahar said.
Israel is working hard to promote the rights of people with disabilities on the international stage, and specifically in the UN arena, and the Jewish State worked on this project in collaboration with the UNFPA (UN Population Fund) and with the diplomatic missions from Australia, Brazil, Finland, Mexico, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Indeed, this week, another extraordinary achievement was made, this time in New York, when the Israeli candidate Odelia Fitoussi was elected on Monday to represent Israel at the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), a first for an Israeli.
The event was inspired by the exhibition Don't Dis My Ability, currently displayed on the new platform the Fresh Paint Fair.This initiative brought together people having disabilities with students from the Department of Visual Communication at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design for a joint creative process, which through a unique space of "artivism" that combines art and activism, is designed to shatter stigmas about people with disabilities.
The International Day for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was established in 1992 by the United Nations, to be held annually on December 3, in order to raise awareness of the issue, improve the situation of those living with disabilities and promote equality of opportunities for them.