This day is celebrated by the United Nations on 3rd December every year since 1992 to recognize the contribution of disabled people around the world with a clarion call that disability is not inability. The world is home to over one billion people with disabilities. This group consists of people of all ages and gender with limited or no access to devices and technology for better living.

People with disabilities are the most disadvantaged in many societies and the day is observed to encourage societies to better understand the issues of disability.

There are many barriers faced by disabled people and affect their personal development. These include social, economic physical and attitude barriers that hinder their growth. The day provides opportunities to highlight these challenges and ways to overcome them to the benefit of disabled and society at large.

Different themes are propagated each year geared towards capturing the plight of disabled people in society and galvanize the population to facilitate them to live better lives and contribute towards development of societies around them.

This international day is used to raise awareness of disability as a development issue cutting across different sectors of society. It promotes and provides opportunities for growth strategies to address the needs for disabled and their families around the world.

Many disabled people are the poor and most disadvantaged in the world. They live in poor conditions and suffer from poor health. By marking this day UN seeks to:

• Encourage better understanding of disabled people by the society and the challenges they face in life.
• Mobolize support from community of nations towards reducing poverty and equitably distributing opportunities and resources enabling disabled people to live in dignity and support themselves and their families.
• Increase awareness to gains that a society can derive from inclusion and integration of people with disabilities to societies development.
• The funds raised are used to initiate and rehabilitate programs that empower them thus reduce poverty and provide opportunities for better lives.
• The day is used to raise awareness on disability and empower the disabled and uplift them from poverty as statistics show a large number of world’s poor are disabled.
• By marking the day the world celebrates the contribution and achievement of people with disabilities to communities as change and development agents and thus promoting the clarion call that disability is not inability.
• Many initiatives are performed to enhance and support the well being and dignity of disabled people and their rights propagated to encourage societies better understand and support them.

Since it was first marked several milestones have been achieved. The day has become a calendar event signifying the importance of disability issues to the world. Disability affects many societies and awareness through a special day provides an opportunity to communities around the world to face the challenges and get solutions to make the world a better place.

By celebrating this day on yearly basis the world has become aware of disability challenges and able to help the disabled improve their lives and give hope to weak and poor in society. Opportunities are created and poverty reduced promoting peace and stability in the world.