'Attacked and abused': Penny Mordaunt champions global disability rights

The Guardian
Karen McVeigh

Three weeks into her tenure as development secretary, Penny Mordaunt has revealed that the UK will co-host a global disability summit in London in July 2018. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

New development secretary to announce plans for Britain’s first global disability summit at keynote address in London

Penny Mordaunt, Britain’s new international development secretary, is to place a commitment to tackling discrimination against disabled people at the heart of the government’s development strategy.

Millions are lost every year, said Mordaunt, because people with disabilities in the world’s poorest countries do not have the support they need to access employment.

In her keynote address on Thursday, the former disability minister will announce the UK’s first global disability summit, to be held in 2018. The summit aims to bring together global leaders and technology companies to tackle the barriers that prevent people with disabilities from fulfilling their potential.

In her speech, at Microsoft’s headquarters in London, Mordaunt will describe disabled people, as “the most discriminated against in society.”

“In many parts of the world, people with disabilities simply don’t count,” Mordaunt will say. “They are neglected and isolated. They are attacked and abused. They are invisible”.

She will also argue that, in the world’s poorest countries, it is “often impossible” for children with disabilities to go to school and to make a living when they grow up. “In many instances, they are completely cast out from the rest of society.”

Mordaunt has said that she wants to help end the “appalling stigma and discrimination” facing the 1 billion people – one in eight of the world’s population – living with disabilities.

“I am bringing technology companies, governments and charities together at the UK government’s first ever global disability summit in London in July 2018, to show our commitment to transform the lives of people living with disabilities,” said Mordaunt.

The summit will be co-hosted with the International Disability Alliance, a global coalition of disabled rights groups.

In her previous role as disability minister, Mordaunt, the MP for Portsmouth North, championed the idea that innovation and technology can play an important role in helping disabled people.

She was given the development brief by Theresa May earlier this month, following the resignation of her predecessor Priti Patel over unofficial meetings with Israeli officials.

Hugh Milward, a senior director at Microsoft, said: “Microsoft believes that technology can play a critical role in removing barriers and empowering people with disabilities. At this moment, the world is at the dawn of a data- and technology-driven fourth industrial revolution, and these technologies enable governments and organisations to change the way they deliver services to their communities, customers and colleagues.”

Joanna Clark, director of the international development charity Deaf Child Worldwide, described Mordaunt’s initiative as “an important step in the right direction” but emphasised the scale of the challenge.

“Ninety per cent of disabled children in developing countries never get close to a classroom,” said Clark. “For those children that do, huge barriers still remain. I see too many deaf children whose teachers can’t communicate with them, lessons that don’t engage them and students who don’t understand them.

“So while we welcome today’s announcement, we should be in no doubt that huge challenges remain for people with disabilities across the developing world.”