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Global Disability Summit 2025: Sightsavers calls for stronger commitment to inclusion

March 2025

Sightsavers is attending the 2025 Global Disability Summit (GDS) to call for increased financing for disability inclusion, clear accountability and stronger commitments to targeting inequality.

Sightsavers will host two events and two exhibition spaces at the event, which takes place in Berlin on 2-3 April, calling on attendees to join us in targeting inequality.

The Global Disability Summit was founded in 2017, and aims to improve the lives of people with disabilities by driving international action on disability inclusion.

The 2025 summit is the third event and will be co-hosted by the governments of Germany and Jordan, alongside the International Disability Alliance. It will bring together governments, organisations of people with disabilities, multilateral agencies, private organisations and civil society to deliver tangible commitments that improve equality and inclusion.

Global Disability Summit logo.

Join us at the summit

Sightsavers will be hosting two events and two exhibition booths in Berlin on 2-3 April.
Find our events and booths

What is Sightsavers asking for at the summit?

1. Stronger commitments

  • Ensure equal access to education, healthcare and social protection
  • Co-develop commitments with organisations of people with disabilities
  • Build on past pledges to ensure long-term impact

2. Clear accountability

  • Use national and international systems to track progress
  • Ensure disability organisations are central to monitoring efforts
  • Establish a strong, well-resourced framework for follow-up

3. Increased financing

  • Governments must integrate disability-inclusive budgeting
  • Donors should increase disability-inclusive funding and track progress
  • Climate change finance must be fully disability-inclusive

Thanks to donors and partners, Sightsavers and the Inclusive Futures consortium have reached more than 4 million people with disabilities across Africa and Asia.

We have also supported nearly 16 million people without disabilities through training and awareness. But both organisations agree that much more needs to be done.

Sightsavers says that if governments fail to act now, the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals will slip out of reach, leaving hundreds of millions of people with disabilities behind.

They will be denied education, healthcare, voting rights and economic opportunities, deepening poverty and inequality.

How can I help to build an inclusive future?

Join us at the summit

 

Event 1: Closing the gap – six principles for inclusive development

When? Wednesday 2 April, 10.30-11.30am
Where? Hall 4.2

Inclusive Futures, funded by UK aid and led by Sightsavers and the International Disability Alliance, has developed six principles for inclusive development. Moderated by BBC journalist Paul Carter, this event will feature female OPD leaders from the Global South, consortium partners, and the UK government, exploring how donors, governments, and NGOs can adopt these principles to drive progress and ensure no one is left behind.


Two young girls talk to each other in a playground. One of the girls has a physical disability and is using a wheelchair.

Event 2: ‘Youth Leadership Now’ – A call to action

When? Thursday 3 April, 10.30-11.30am
Where? Hall 7.3

Sightsavers’ Equal World campaign, in partnership with UNICEF and the International Disability Alliance, is platforming young people with disabilities to demand their rights and meaningful engagement in decision-making. The event will also showcase successful government collaborations with young people with disabilities, demonstrating how inclusion drives real change.


A young man wearing a smart suit.

Booth 1: Target inequality – Sightsavers

When? 1-3 April, 8.30am-5.30pm
Where? B5

Disability rights are human rights — so why can’t millions of people with disabilities access theirs? Visit our exhibition booth to meet our team and discover how you can take action through our campaigns and programmes to target inequality and build a more equal world. While you’re at our booth, grab a ‘Disability rights are human rights’ badge, pick up the latest edition of Changing Times newspaper —featuring powerful stories from young disability rights activists — and access our flagship Equal World? film. Join us in making change happen.


Mock-up of the creative concept of Sightsavers' booth design for the Global Disability Summit, with the text: People with disabilities are entitled (to their human rights).

Booth 2: This is what inclusion looks like – Inclusive Futures

When? 1-3 April, 8.30am-5.30pm
Where? A4

In the five countries where Inclusive Futures works, there are now more children with disabilities learning at school, more people with disabilities earning a living, and more people accessing the health care they need and living their lives free from discrimination. This is what inclusion looks like.

Visit our booth to connect with our consortium and OPD partners, explore key insights from our programme and access memorable stories with our collection of postcards, audio content and videos. You can also pledge your support to future generations by signing our open letter on inclusive education and be part of the movement for change. Together, we can close the gap, target inequality and build a more equal world.

Mock-up of the creative concept of the Inclusive Futures booth design, with the text: This is what inclusion looks like.

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