Around 4,500 participants worldwide came together in Berlin in early April for the Global Disability Summit (GDS) 2025. The highlight was the adoption of the Amman-Berlin Declaration on April 3rd — a major milestone for the global inclusion of persons with disabilities. However, the conversations and discussions on panels and at exhibition booths were also inspiring and showed that much is possible when resources are available.
„We are not problems to be solved“, this is what moderator Caroline Casey, visually impaired herself, called out during the closing session. This sentence – or variations of it – was heard again and again across panels, discussion rounds, and speeches. There was a clear consensus: Societies must finally recognize the potential that lies within persons with disabilities, and understand that inclusion and accessibility ultimately benefit everyone – not just the approximately 1.3 billion persons with disabilities worldwide, but also their families and friends, elder people, pregnant women, or simply those pushing baby strollers, carrying luggage, or getting around on crutches. And this could be experienced firsthand during the summit: live captioning of the speeches helped not only tackle acoustic difficulties but also with taking notes, the extra space for maneuvering for wheelchair users prevented general crowding, and texts in plain language were easier for everyone to grasp. The constant presence of sign language interpreters, assistance dogs, information materials in Braille language, and the “awareness team” made it unmistakably clear who gets excluded when such aids and support systems are missing.
The Global Disability Summit is not just an event that takes place every three years – it is, more importantly, a continuous mechanism that initiates and strengthens concrete actions towards the full implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). It offers a platform for governments, international organizations, the private sector, civil society, and organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) to exchange knowledge, spark cooperation, and also to make concrete commitments. This year, the Summit was hosted by Germany, Jordan, and the International Disability Alliance (IDA) – the only permanent co-host. The opening took place on April 2nd at the STATION in Berlin, in the presence of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, King Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein of Jordan, and IDA President Nawaf Kabbara.
New Initiatives for Better Data and Inclusive Urban Development
Side events and fireside chats covered the full spectrum of disability inclusion in development cooperation and humanitarian aid: Inclusive education, political participation, digital solutions, healthcare systems, gender and intersectionality, employment and entrepreneurship, inclusive climate protection and disaster risk management, and much more. In addition to the exchange of ideas and networking, several new initiatives were also launched – for example, the Disability Data Hub of the World Bank during the half-day Disability Data Forum, as well as the RICH Initiative (Resilient and Inclusive Cities Hub), which was launched and presented by the UN Global Disability Fund.
A Milestone: The Amman-Berlin-Declaration
The politically most significant moment of the Summit was the ceremonial adoption of the “Amman-Berlin Declaration on the Global Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities” during the closing event on April 3rd. Up to the very last minute, about 99 governments and organizations pledged their support for its goals:
- strive for all international development programs to be inclusive of and accessible to persons with disabilities, and
- strive to ensure that at least 15 percent of international development programs being implemented at the country level pursue disability inclusion as an objective (“15 percent for the 15 percent”) – according to the proportion of persons with disabilities the the global population.
This is the first time that a quantifiable target has been set against which the supporters of the declaration can be evaluated. The applause was overwhelming, and despite the current challenges on the international stage in this field, there was a sense of optimism and hope in the air.
In addition, this year saw the submission of more than 800 commitments from countries and international organizations around the world, each containing concrete and measurable actions. The next Summit will take place in 2028 in Qatar. By then, international development cooperation and humanitarian aid must become active on many levels to implement their self-set goals – and to anchor the inclusion of persons with disabilities so deeply into their work that the slogan of the representative organizations, “Nothing about us without us,” becomes a lived reality.
Sustainability meets inclusivity at the Global Disability Summit!
While the Global Disability Summit (GDS) centered on advancing disability inclusion worldwide, it also prioritized the comfort and dignity of all participants. A team from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, in partnership with Vyld, took a meaningful step by providing sustainable menstrual products such as seaweed-based tampons. These were made available in accessible dispensers, ensuring everyone had access to essential care.
A small but powerful move toward a more inclusive and environmentally conscious world.
Some Impressions from the GDS
Further Information
- Pictures from the GDS 2025.
- Global Disability Summit
- Global Disability Summit 2025 – Recorded Livestream Day 1 // Global Disability Summit 2025 – Recorded Livestream Day 2 (Videos)
- Amman-Berlin Declaration – Global Disability Summit
- Disability Data Hub
- Resilient and Inclusive Cities Hub – Global Disability Fund
- Inclusive Development Cooperation (Time for Action) (Video)