According to the data of World Health Organization, persons with disabilities who have physical, mental, intellectual, or cognitive impairments which prevents them from participating in society under the same conditions as other persons constitute 15% of world's population. On the other hand, persons with disabilities constitute 12.29% of population of Türkiye.
As a requirement of being a social state, Türkiye put many norms and mechanisms in order to protect and promote the rights of persons with disabilities into effect in the recent years. Türkiye has become a party to Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Optional Protocol and at a national level, many regulations on the issue were either adopted or revised, starting with the Constitution and laws. The objective of Law no. 5378 on Disabled People which entered into force on 7 July 2005 is to ensure the full and equal participation of disabled persons in the society like other persons and it includes regulations on education, healthcare, rehabilitation, employment, social security, and care.
In the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations (UN), the main problem areas of by persons with disabilities were listed as healthcare, education, employment, access to transportation, especially intersectional discriminations and inequality faced by women with disabilities. Discrimination in access to public services, resources and opportunities, inaccessible buildings and areas, discriminatory language and speech also remain as problem areas for persons with disabilities. Within this scope, in order to establish the foundation of an egalitarian society, persons with disabilities being able to exercise their rights fully and in an equal manner with other individuals and preventing discrimination against persons with disabilities is of utmost importance.
Human Rights and Equality Institution of Türkiye, main mission of which is to protect the right to equal treatment of persons on the basis of human dignity and prevention of discrimination in exercising the legally acknowledged rights and freedoms, celebrates May 10-16 World Disability Week with the hopes of a world where the fundamental rights and freedoms of persons with disabilities are under effective protection, where they are able to participate in life fully under equal conditions as other individuals.
Respectfully announced to the public.