Our Founder and Executive Director, Nidhi Goyal, participated in a virtual panel on “Mapping Opportunities for Accelerating Progress Towards the SDGs by 2030 and on the Road to Viksit Bharat 2047” as part of the Stakeholder Consultation for the United Nations Country Analysis for India’s next Cooperation Framework (2028–2032), organised by the United Nations Country Team in India. The session was attended by 50 participants and the panel was moderated by Vidya Raghavan, CEO, New Concept Centre for Development Coordination. Nidhi was joined by fellow speakers Beena Pallical, NCDHR; Prachi Patil, WASSAN; and Roshni, Yuva India.
In her intervention, Nidhi emphasised that persons with disabilities must be recognised not merely as beneficiaries of development, but as citizens, workers, leaders, innovators, and decision-makers shaping India’s future. She highlighted three critical shifts: embedding accessibility by design across systems and infrastructure; ensuring meaningful participation of persons with disabilities in the technology economy. Especially with the rise of AI and other emerging tech, persons with disabilities must be seen as designers, developers, researchers, entrepreneurs and decision-makers shaping it; and unlocking their economic and leadership potential, particularly that of women with disabilities.
She also stressed the need for disability-disaggregated data, inclusive budgeting, accessible technology, universal design, and meaningful representation in policymaking. Nidhi called for disability inclusion to become a cross-cutting development priority to ensure that the promise of ‘Leave No One Behind’ is realised in practice.
