LiveWorkPlay Celebrates International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2024, Helps Raise Flag

December 3, 2024 photo below: for the first time in Ottawa, the disability rights flag has been raised at City Hall on International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Created in 2017 by the Valencian dancer Eros Recio and presented to the United Nations, use of the flag has grown in countries across the world. Top right: Megan Richards from the City of Ottawa Accessibility Office launched the event and introduced Deputy Mayor Laine Johnson. Middle and bottom right: Johnson raises the flag as attendees sign O Canada. Left: LiveWorkPlay celebrates the raised flag!

The United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) is observed annually on December 3rd. The theme for 2024 is “Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future.” This theme recognizes the important role that persons with disabilities play in creating a more inclusive and sustainable world for all. It also emphasizes the importance of the participation of persons with disabilities in decision-making processes that affect their lives.

Key Goals and Call to Action:

Promoting the leadership of persons with disabilities in all areas of life.

Ensuring the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all aspects of society.

Increasing the participation of persons with disabilities in decision-making processes.
Raising awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities.

Celebrating the achievements of persons with disabilities.

If you are thinking that all of those priorities align well with the work of LiveWorkPlay, you are correct, and it is not be accident. In 2011, LiveWorkPlay established new mission, vision, and values statements that were drawn directly from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. From those international declarations we have evolved our own 7 Principles of the Just Enough Support model, which is centred around the importance of Honouring Personal Autonomy to help guide our daily work.

The IDPD 2024 is being commemorated with a series of events around the world. In Ottawa, LiveWorkPlay is participating in many different ways. On December 3, it starts in the morning with the first ever raising of the Disability Rights Flag at the City of Ottawa, and ends in the evening with a gathering hosted by the Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities. As the week goes on, the culmination of the Disability and Work in Canada conference where Anna Nelson and Philip Delangy will join a December 5 panel hosted by Ready, Wllling and Able, and finally, our annual Festive Family Gathering on December 6.