Sixteen to 17% of the world's population label themselves as having disability.

Marking the International Day for Persons with Disabilities, UN Global Advocate Giles Duley said that persons with disabilities are assets for workforce, reiterating the need to look at the societal barriers that are holding them back from achieving what they can. The Global Advocate spoke to reporters in New York. He highlighted the importance of listening to what the reality is like for people with disabilities. Duley said, “Too often people with disabilities are presented as inspiration, as resilient people. And of course, they are. But that means the stories of those left behind who are truly vulnerable are often ignored or forgotten. We can't romanticize the idea of disability.” Speaking about Gaza, the Global Advocate said, “People with disabilities whenever there is a crisis are the ones most vulnerable,” adding that “people living on top floors of apartment buildings, when the electricity is gone, cannot evacuate. When warnings are done by sound, people who are deaf do not get them. When people in wheelchairs and there's rubble in the streets, they lose all accessibility.” Duley also pointed out that the society “have to stop looking at people with disabilities as victims.” He said, “We should look at them as assets, because some of the most resilient people you will meet in the workforce are people with disabilities, people who have struggled their whole lives, people who have met those challenges.” “For me, resilience is life's gift for your suffering and challenges,” the Global Advocate said, adding, “It gives you strength that enables you to be an amazing part of the workforce. There are barriers that stop those people and so rather look at them as the problem, we must always look at the societal barriers that are holding them back from achieving what they can.”

Duley also said, “Sixteen to 17 percent of the world's population label themselves as having disability. The stories we hear are only about the ones that we feel comfortable listening to. Unfortunately, the stories that are uncomfortable are the ones we need to be telling.”