III 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 445 

Recognizing the goals and ideals of International Day of Persons with 

Disabilities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 3, 2019 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. COONS, Mr. JONES, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Ms. 

CANTWELL, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. DURBIN) submitted 

the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 

Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the goals and ideals of International Day of 

Persons with Disabilities. 

Whereas December 3 of each year is recognized internationally as International Day of Persons with Disabilities; 

Whereas the United Nations (UN) states that the observance 

of International Day of Persons with Disabilities aims to 

promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights, and well-being of persons with disabilities and 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; 


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•SRES 445 IS 

Whereas over 1,000,000,000 people, or 15 percent of the 

world’s population, live with some form of disability; 

Whereas 80 percent of individuals with disabilities live in developing countries; 

Whereas there are more than 93,000,000 children with disabilities worldwide according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); 

Whereas the prevalence of disabilities is approximately 50 

percent higher for women than for men, and women 

make up 75 percent of all individuals with disabilities in 

low- and middle-income countries, according to UN 

Women; 

Whereas persons with disabilities are often excluded from the 

labor market, political participation and meaningful involvement in public life and are more likely to experience 

poverty, discrimination, social stigmatization, and lack of 

access to vital and inclusive resources; 

Whereas children with disabilities are more likely to be malnourished, subject to violence, isolation, and abuse, and 

less likely to attend school than children without disabilities; 

Whereas issues related to disability rights cut across all sectors of foreign assistance, including democracy, voting 

and elections, human rights, civil rights, labor, global 

health, education, economic growth and trade, gender 

equality and women’s empowerment, agriculture and food 

security, water and sanitation, conflict transformation, 

disaster risk reduction, and humanitarian recovery and 

relief; 

Whereas there are 59,500,000 people forcibly displaced 

worldwide and displaced people are more likely to have a 


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•SRES 445 IS 

disability, according to the UN High Commission for 

Refugees; 

Whereas forced displacement amplifies the risk experienced 

by refugees with disabilities with respect to violence, including sexual and domestic abuse, trafficking, exploitation by family members, discrimination, and exclusion 

from access to justice, education, livelihoods, a nationality, and other public services; 

Whereas people with disabilities are often members of 

marginalized groups, including women, young people, 

older adults, the LGBTI community, ethnic and religious 

minorities, indigenous people, internally displaced people, 

and refugees; 

Whereas the United States has shown leadership domestically 

on disability rights with the enactment and implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 

U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), the ADA Amendments Act of 

2008 (Public Law 110–325), and the Individuals with 

Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.), as 

well as section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 

794), and this leadership should be leveraged to support 

international disability rights; 

Whereas United States support for the rights of individuals 

with disabilities— 

(1) is in the diplomatic, economic, and humanitarian 

interests of the United States; 

(2) generates goodwill toward the United States; and 

(3) highlights the values of the people of the United 

States through the work of governmental, nongovernmental, and faith-based organizations of the United 

States; 


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•SRES 445 IS 

Whereas the United States Government, through the United 

States Agency for International Development (USAID), 

promotes disability-inclusive development by— 

(1) improving the quality and accessibility of education for students with disabilities through the promotion of sign language, Braille, access to assistive technology, and other inclusive education practices; 

(2) increasing the participation of people with disabilities in political processes through national awareness 

campaigns, use of accessible polling stations and voter 

materials, and open exchange between disability communities and politicians to update election laws to be more 

inclusive and compliant with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; 

(3) strengthening organizations run by and for people with disabilities to advocate on their own behalf, design, and implement international development programs 

and access direct funding; 

(4) supporting the economic independence of women 

with disabilities through microcredit programs that provide seed grants to women to invest in their families and 

start new businesses; 

(5) integrating youth and adults with disabilities 

into the competitive workforce by facilitating job training, 

internship opportunities, and educating employers on best 

practices for hiring people with disabilities; and 

(6) ensuring community health care providers and 

disaster response experts include people with disabilities 

in their programs by employing the principles of universal design; and 

Whereas the inclusion of people with disabilities is a fundamental part of democracy, and essential to the full realization of human rights: Now, therefore, be it 


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•SRES 445 IS 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes December 3, 2019, as Inter3 national Day of Persons with Disabilities; 

4 (2) supports the goals and ideals of Inter5 national Day of Persons with Disabilities; 

6 (3) recognizes the importance of supporting the 

7 rights of individuals with disabilities both domesti8 cally and abroad; 

9 (4) supports efforts by the Department of State 

10 and the United States Agency for International De11 velopment to promote disability-inclusive develop12 ment; 

13 (5) supports continued leadership by the United 

14 States in bilateral, multilateral, and private sector 

15 efforts to promote and protect the rights of individ16 uals with disabilities; and 

17 (6) encourages other members of the inter18 national community to protect the rights and civil 

19 liberties of individuals with disabilities. 

Æ 


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