Title
Recognizing December 3rd 2015 as International Day of Persons with Disabilities in honor of individuals living globally with disabilities.
Body
WHEREAS, The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is a day to honor those living with disabilities worldwide. The goal of this day is to promote awareness, mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of individuals living with a disability and increase understanding of issues people with disabilities face every day. This day is also designed to promote community inclusion and accessibility for all people with disabilities; and
WHEREAS, The annual observance day of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities was declared in 1992 by the United Nations General Assembly; and
WHEREAS, The theme for this year's International Day of Persons with Disabilities is "Inclusion Matters: Access and Empowerment of People of All Abilities". It is estimated by the United Nations that there are one million people living with disabilities that face barriers everyday when it comes to inclusion in all aspects of society; and
WHEREAS, This day will entail a series of events focusing on accessibility and inclusion of persons with disabilities including panel discussions, the United Nations Film Festival, UN Enable Photo Exhibition "Images of Ability," and an Art Exhibition, "Like Wildflowers, Like Stars"; and
WHEREAS, Perceptions of what it means to be a person living with a disability is often affected by the societal attitudes grounded in stigma and negative or outdated beliefs regarding those with disabilities. This often results in discrimination and becomes a significant barrier to full and equal inclusion into society; and
WHEREAS, The lack of data on disabilities contributes to the invisibility of people living with disabilities in official statistics. Planning and implementation cannot be done when research and data are not available; and
WHEREAS, This day is also meant to high...
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