Indian-American showcases Voice of Specially-Abled People app at UN

During the session, the VOSAP explained its unique approach for creating inclusive society for persons with disabilities and how member countries can adopt this developing country model to benefit from this approach. Desai has been spearheading campaigns to ensure an inclusive and accessible society for persons living with disabilities, specially in India. In 2016, Desai, a Silicon Valley-based IT professional, had welcomed the passage of the landmark Disabilities Bill by the Indian Parliament. Having campaigned for the cause, he had said the bill will have a far-reaching impact and lay the foundation for transforming the country’s disability sector and bringing it on par with the developed world.

Desai is an adviser to the Department of Persons with Disabilities in India’s Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and was also appointed adviser to the ‘Accessible India’ campaign aimed at making transport, public spaces and information and communication technology accessible to differently-abled people. During the UN session on June 14, Desai showcased to an audience, comprising UN diplomats and civil society members, the VOSAP mobile app and its features such as the ‘Take Volunteer Pledge’ that can accelerate mass movements and encourage people’s involvement by creating local communities, globally. Through it, volunteers can map out the accessibility level of key buildings in communities and call for action in upgrading the accessibility facilities by spreading awareness among government officials, engineers, civic planners and the business community.

Desai said VOSAP focuses on inspiring everyone in the society for their individual social responsibility towards the specially-abled and this sensitisation, mass awareness and collective actions by leaders and volunteers has yielded huge social impact over the last four years. “Its key message is that ‘everyone is temporarily-abled’ so people should not ignore the needs and rights of the ‘Divyang jan’ and instead create accessible and inclusive society,” he said, adding that when everyone embraces their individual social responsibility, the disability rights movement can achieve its goals much faster.

Also Read: At United Nations, India’s choice between an old promise and a budding friendship

Addressing the inaugural day of the conference, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had said that cementing and protecting the rights of around 1.5 billion people around the world in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a “moral imperative”. He described the Convention as one of the most widely-ratified international human rights treaties, which reaffirms that people with disabilities are entitled to the same treatment as everybody else. “But signing and ratifying the Convention is not enough. Implementation is essential,” Guterres said. “Societies must be organised so that all people, including those with disabilities, can exercise their rights freely.”

Secretary in India’s Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Shakuntala Doley Gamlin had said that with one in five of the world’s poorest people living with disabilities, empowerment of persons with disabilities is the touchstone for measuring inclusive social and economic progress. “Promotion of equality of opportunity and non-discrimination of persons with disabilities; focusing on women and children with disabilities; mainstreaming accessibility requirements so that persons with disabilities enjoy the right to independent living and participate in all aspects of life, are some such areas of synergy that needs attention,” she had said.

Also Read: United Nations Assembly blames Israel for Gaza violence, but not Hamas

The Accessible India Campaign was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 for barrier-free access to public spaces and in virtual ecosystems. Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act also mandates the government to frame standards for accessibility in built environments, transport systems, information and communication technologies and in other public services, Gamlin had said.