For years, we have celebrated the International Day of Disabled Persons. Every year the day has a theme. For once, the theme lands. This year’s theme finally speaks to the real work, aspirations and lived experiences of disabled people: “Fostering disability-inclusive societies for advancing social progress.”
In the past, the themes have been so lofty, abstract, and jargon-laden that they have floated far above the daily realities of disabled people. While the intention from the United Nations has always been noble, past themes of the Day have often felt disconnected from the lived experiences of those of us they were meant to uplift.
For example take the theme “Transformative Solutions for Inclusive Development: The Role of Innovation in Fuelling an Accessible and Equitable World” (2022). Worthy? Yes. Memorable? Hardly. It read like the output of a UN committee thesaurus session, not a theme that resonates with whānau seeking basic accessibility, transport, or support services.
Another example: “Achieving 17 Goals for the Future We Want” (2016). This was less a disability theme and more an umbrella reference to the Sustainable Development Goals- very PC, but so broad it meant everything and nothing at the same time. And then there was “Leaving No One Behind” (2019), a theme so universally applicable it could have been used for almost any social issue. It didn’t speak to the unique barriers or aspirations of disabled communities.
Themes like these often fail to land because they are vague, globalised, and detached from everyday life. They don’t speak to inaccessible footpaths, under-resourced support services, funding cuts, or the lived discrimination disabled people face. They sound inspirational, but they don’t inspire action.
This year is different. The 2024–25 theme, “Fostering disability-inclusive societies for advancing social progress,” finally hits the mark. It is grounded, practical, and specific. It acknowledges something many disabled advocates have been saying for decades: true social progress isn’t possible unless disabled people are at the centre of it. Inclusion isn’t a “nice to have,” it is essential to a thriving society.
This theme speaks directly to what we see in Tai Tokerau every day. You cannot build a strong region if 24% of the population is left navigating barriers alone. You cannot call a system fair if disabled people are constantly expected to fit into structures never designed with them in mind. And you cannot talk about progress while accessibility, participation, and equity remain afterthoughts.
Fostering disability-inclusive societies for advancing social progress aligns with the kaupapa of Tiaho Trust and the Tai Tokerau Enabling Good Lives (EGL) Leadership Group, both of which work to amplify disabled leadership and strengthen community connection. The theme isn’t abstract to us- it’s something we are actively building in Northland every day.
So to celebrate this year’s International Day of Disabled Persons, Tiaho Trust and the EGL Leadership Group will be participating in the CDL Christmas Parade. If you’re reading this early enough this Saturday morning, come down and check it out.
What better way to embody inclusion than by being visible, joyful, and present in a public Christmas parade? This year’s theme tells the world that disabled people belong at the centre of community life, not on the margins, not in policy documents, but right there on the main street, waving, laughing.
Now that’s a theme worth celebrating.
Jonny Wilkinson is the CEO of Tiaho Trust – Disability A Matter of Perception, a Whangarei based disability advocacy organisation.