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The third Global Disability Summit, which is taking place in Berlin, will conclude today with concrete outcomes for better inclusion worldwide. The global population includes around 1.3 billion persons with disabilities – 15 per cent of all the people in the world. Now, promoting inclusion is also to be an objective in at least 15 per cent of development projects. That is the intention at the heart of the Amman-Berlin Declaration adopted by more than 80 countries and organisations at the Summit today.

More than 3000 people from some 100 countries, many of them with a disability, are meeting in Berlin for the third Global Disability Summit starting today. The goal is to advance accessibility and inclusion worldwide. The summit is being co-hosted by Germany, represented by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the International Disability Alliance.

Development Minister Svenja Schulze: “The Syrian transitional government has taken a lot of steps in the right direction, but the situation in the country is still very fragile. A key thing for making the transition process a success now is to quickly organise improvements for the population. Together with other donors, Germany has stated clearly that the support for Syria is linked to the expectation that the new Syria involves all social and religious groups in the country. (...)”

Parliamentary State Secretary at the Development Ministry (BMZ) Niels Annen travelled to Syria on Monday for political talks and held further discussions in Lebanon today. The focus of the visit was the transition process and recovery in Syria, as well as the reform agenda and challenges facing crisis-torn Lebanon.

“We find this move regrettable. At the same time, we are convinced that the work of the Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) can be continued successfully. The decision to share responsibility between so many partners is now turning out to be very helpful. Since their establishment, the Partnerships have grown. In the case of South Africa, the JETP has reached a higher volume, even without the US, than had been agreed at the outset in 2021. (...)”

The German government, like the European Union and the Security Council of the United Nations in its Resolution 2773, has repeatedly expressed its views on the situation in Eastern Congo and on the actions of the M23, which is supported by Rwanda, and of the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF), including the capture of the provincial capitals of Goma (North Kivu) and Bukavu (South Kivu). We utterly condemn these actions, which are a violation of the ceasefire based on the Luanda Process and a violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The German government supports the African-led mediation efforts.