Today is the International Day of People with Disability

IDPwD was established in 1992 by the United Nations General Assembly and is celebrated worldwide on 3 December each year.

The aim of the day is "to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life."

The international theme for this year is – Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Dignity and justice for all of us". The theme reflects the entry into force in May this year of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and next weeks 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a treaty that identifies the rights of persons with disabilities and the obligations on UN State members to the Convention to implement measures to promote, protect and ensure those rights. You can read a brief description or the full text of the Convention on the UN Enable site. Australia is one of the 136 current signatories to the convention and one of 41 who have currently ratified it. Australia made this declaration on ratification.

The Australian IDPwD site has details of events happening throughout Australia entry into force of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In conjunction with the days events the 2008 winners of the Australian National Disability Awards will be announced at an awards ceremony in Canberra.