1 July 2022
The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT), is the only speech and language therapy body in the world with special consultative status at the UN Economic and Social Council.
As part of our commitment to the International Communication Project, to advocate for and to promote communication rights, we were engaged at the 15th Conference of State Parties to the Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which took place in New York in early June.
The RCSLT was represented by the inspirational Abdi Omar, a service user advocate with cerebral palsy who relies on an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device to communicate.
We were successful in securing an intervention during the general debate of the conference, as part of which Abdi delivered a statement calling on the governments of the world for greater access to communication technologies, the adoption of inclusive and accessible communication systems, as well as access to speech and language therapy.
His statement will now be published in the UN journal and shared across all nations that are party to the treaty – a significant achievement for the RCSLT.
- Watch Abdi Omar’s speech on the UN Web TV player
- Read more about the RCSLT’s international engagement activities
