Unlocking Global Access: Financing Assistive Technology and Navigating International Trade Systems (COSP19 Side Event)

Excellencies, colleagues, friends, a very good evening to each one of you joining us here in person at the United Nations headquarters in New York and a very warm welcome also to the global audience who are joining us through the UN Web TV.
The title of today's event is Unlocking Global Access, Financing Assistive Technology and International Trade.
The event is sponsored by the Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, the Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations, 80 Scale, the Global Partnership on Assistive Technology.
UNICEF stands with partners, the International Disability Alliance, and the China Disabled People's Federation for this event.
Before we start, I would like to flag highlight that sign language and closed captioning is available.
You can access it via the QR code on your personal device.
It is the 20th year of the adoption of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that we are all celebrating.
Much progress has been made during these years, as has been noted in various events throughout this week.
At the same time, we know that data points out that in low and middle income countries, only 10% of those who need assistive devices, assistive technologies have access to them.
When we explore the reasons why people with disabilities are not accessing assistive devices are not barriers in trade and finance also stand up as significant obstacles that impede access.
The topic that we are discussing therefore is of critical importance.
In course of today's discussion, we will try to explore what are the barriers that line trade and finance that impede access.
What are some of the solutions? How can trade be leveraged to promote inclusion rather than it being a barrier? We have a very distinguished lineup of speakers today.
The event will be in two segments.
In the opening segment, we'll have a ministerial opening address followed by a video followed by the presentation of a technical report on Assistive Technology and international trade, followed by an interactive panel.
There will be some time for questions and answers.
With this, let me invite Sir Stephen Times, United Kingdom, Minister of State for Social Security and Disability for the opening remarks.
The floor is yours, sir.
Good.
Thank you very much, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues and friends.
It is a real honor for me to welcome everybody to this side event on behalf of the UK and to stand alongside our co organizers on 80 scale.
The Global Partnership for Assistive Technology, who will be hearing from shortly, UNICEF, the International Disability Alliance, and also China, Tanzania, and the Solomon Islands.
We're very grateful for the support of everybody for this event.
This year, as Gopal has reminded us, we're at the 19th Conference of state parties marking a very significant milestone, the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the convention.
We're looking back on what's been achieved over 20 years, but also looking forward to what we need to do to achieve the vision that the convention has set out.
The truth is at the moment that basic tools for independence are kept out of reach for many of the disabled people around the world who need them most.
While that remains the case, our quest for resilient societies for strong and effective care and support system is a long way short of being achieved.
Assistive technology, a wheelchair, a pair of glasses, a hearing aid, a digital device like a screen reader.
These are not luxuries.
They are for many people fundamental prerequisites for being able to take a full and active part in society.
Assistive tech is a bridge to education, it's a gateway to employment, and it's the foundation for universal health coverage.
It is an essential for realizing the human rights of disabled people that access to assistive tech remains very, very unequal at the moment.
Globally, more than 2.5 billion people need one or more assistive products.
By 2050, we think that'll be 3.5 billion or more than 3.5 billion But access remains deeply uneven.
As Gopal has pointed out, only 10% of people in low and middle income countries can access the assistive tech that they need.
We need to be doing much better than that.
It isn't simply a problem of funding or innovation or knowledge.
It is also a problem of trade and the way that markets work.
The groundbreaking technical report we are shortly going to be hearing about shines a light with the evidence to back it up on an uncomfortable truth that our global trade systems are actively inflating, increasing the cost of inclusion.
For many countries, there is little or no domestic manufacturing.
A depends on products imported from North America, from Europe, from China.
But too often trade systems act as barriers, treating these life changing products as ordinary consumer goods rather than things which are essential to people's lives.
Tariffs and taxes can significantly increase costs, for instance, in some African markets, Glasses, spectacles, face import tariffs of up to 30%, with VAT of up to 18% and severe logistical bottlenecks as well like steep port storage charges, the cost of importing a product can raise its final price to well over 1.5 times the factory price.
Non tariff barriers like uncoordinated fiscal policies, administrative red tape, misclassification at borders, Those things drive prices higher still.
Combined, these challenges, these barriers are effectively taxing the independence of people with disabilities, older people, others who need these assistive devices.
Trade here isn't just a technical issue.
It is one of the reasons why so few people in low income countries can access products that many in high income countries take for granted.
Without inclusive trade policies, globalization and digital transformation will only make these things worse and deepen existing inequalities.
In the UK, we want to see change.
We're a proud founding donor of AT scale, and we've been championing the shift from a charity model to a more sustainable essential market model.
At the core of AT scales work is market shaping.
Their work focuses on reshaping global and regional markets to attract buyers and suppliers of affordable, appropriate, good quality products.
This involves crucially bringing production closer to the people who are going to be using the products.
So a very good example is the made AT Kenya initiative, which the UK and AT scale have supported, investing in local manufacturing and assembly of quality wheelchairs, which are appropriately designed for the terrain.
They are reducing costs.
They're also building regional supply chains, creating local jobs, making sure that maintenance and repair are available right in the community.
This is a systems approach in action.
But local efforts need to be matched by global political will.
This technical report provides a practical roadmap for action.
I do hope all member states will consider the recommendations in the report.
First, to designate assistive products as essential health goods.
They should receive the same tax exemption and customer priority, customers priority as essential medicines.
They frequently don't at the moment.
Second, to simplify and digitize customs procedures.
We need to train trade and customs officials to end the classification errors that delay shipments and incur very high port fees.
Third, to anchor our policies in cross ministerial coordination.
We need ministries of health of finance, and of trade sitting at the same table working alongside disabled people's organizations to resolve the problems that we've seen.
Excellencies, 20 years ago, the world made a promise with this convention to leave no one behind.
Let's use this 20 year milestone, not just for reflection, but to build momentum for further reform.
We invite member states, development partners to join us in translating the findings of this report into inclusive trade policy.
Let's dismantle the structural barriers at our borders.
Let's streamline our customs and finance the infrastructure that will deliver affordable, life changing, assistive tech to everyone who needs it.
The UK is committed to putting people with disabilities at the heart of all we do.
We see assistive tech as central to that commitment because it is the principal enabler of inclusion, independence, and opportunity.
Expanding equitable access to assistive tech is key to turning our shared ambitions into lived realities.
What I'd ask is that all of us should work together to achieve that.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Steven, for those very compelling arguments and for pointing out the sheer scope of the issue, 2.5 billion people rising to 3.5 billion.
It's not a fringe issue.
And also for pointing out the different ways, the different barriers, how they play out to impede access, and also highlighting the importance of coordination, digitization, as well as collaboration and coordination between ministries and being a minister yourself, it couldn't have come from a better person.
So thank you so much, sir.
And I will now request C one to have for us a video that has been developed by the interagency working group on trade and development, which will help us contextualize our discussions and locate it within the structural barriers, and global policies, economic policies.
So let us have a look.
Thank you.
Thank.
Today, we are pleased to introduce the interagency working group on trade and disability inclusion, a collaborative platform bringing together Geneva based international organizations to embed disability inclusion in global trade and development.
Established in late 2023 as a joint initiative of ATAT, WTO, ITC, and ILO, the working group now includes 15 organizations and continues to grow.
Our shared goal is to move from commitment to coordinated action.
This group focuses on practical collaboration, avoiding duplication, working across mandates, and ensuring inclusion is integrated into trade and development efforts.
We organize events, promote research, share data, and support technical cooperation.
This is an open participatory space, welcoming staff from international organizations, member states, and invited experts.
Our aim is to foster constructive engagement, mutual learning, and shared progress.
Why is this work urgent? Globally, 1.3 billion people experience significant disability, about 16% of the world's population.
Most live in low and middle income countries where exclusion from the benefits of trade is common.
Persons with disabilities face significant barriers, including inaccessible infrastructure, limited access to technology and employment, and policy gaps that perpetuate exclusion.
Assistive products like mobility devices and hearing aids are essential for participation, education, work, and society.
Yet, in many low and middle income countries, only one in ten people have access to the assistive products they need.
This is not just a health or social issue.
It's also a trade issue.
High tariffs, import taxes, and complex customs procedures limit access and raise costs.
Meanwhile, the global market for assistive products is dominated by high income countries, leaving lower income economies with limited capacity to produce or obtain them.
Without inclusive trade policies, globalization and digital transformation risks deepening existing inequalities.
For those already marginalized, the gap may only widen.
But there is also significant opportunity.
Inclusive trade can drive economic empowerment.
Research suggests that inclusive policies could lead to a 7% increase in global GDP, again, that benefits everyone.
To realize this potential, persons with disabilities and their representative organizations must have a seat at the policy making table.
They must be included as consumers, workers, entrepreneurs, and innovators in an inclusive global economy, especially in the growing digital sector.
That is exactly what this working group is striving for a global trading system that removes barriers, advances inclusion, and ensures persons with disabilities are fully recognized and empowered.
Inclusion is not just about rights, it is smart economics.
When we unlock potential, we boost productivity, innovation, and sustainable growth.
Further, we know that the sustainable development goals, which emphasized the need to leave no one behind can only be met if the needs and objectives of persons with disabilities are adequately addressed, including in trade related issues.
Interaction and cooperation between member states and the working group is an important element to the wider advocacy effort to integrate disability inclusion considerations across trade agendas.
Ensuring that digital benefits and technologies are accessible to all is key to removing barriers and unlocking opportunities for persons with disabilities.
While the working group is still in its early stages, we are committed to serve as a model for effective ingenc cooperation.
Together, we have the tools and the responsibility to build an effective system that leaves no one behind.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Before we proceed, the further, I would like to further highlight that along with our accessibility sign language and closed captioning, there is also interpretation in French, Spanish, and Chinese.
You may access that if you require.
I would now like to request my dear colleague Cretan Johnson, advocacy and communications advisor from AT scale the global Partnership on Assistive Technology, to present to us some of the key findings and recommendations from the technical report on Assistive Technology and international trade.
Creed the floor is yours.
Thank you, Gopal.
Steven, Excellency, friends, colleagues, it's a pleasure to be here and have the opportunity to talk you through the key findings and recommendations of the technical report and policy brief on Assistive Technology and International Trade, which was launched just last week.
Hot off the press and some of the findings.
Thank you, Steven.
You did mention and as Gopal said, it's really great to hear from you as well.
There may be some key points of repetition, but I think that will just also serve to emphasize some of these key points.
But before I dive in, I would like to recognize the Rehabilitation and Medical Institute of the University of Brazil Medical School for leading the research and to the European Union for their support for the research on the technical report, which is testament to their commitment to disability inclusion.
The report aims to demystify the complexities of trade, tariffs and taxes and set out why it matters for increasing access to assistive technology.
It responds to one of the key barriers to access already mentioned, affordability.
Next slide, please.
We've heard some of these statistics already on the slide.
Another to mention is that over 200 million people in Africa need assistive technology.
And yet manufacturing of assistive products in Africa remains scarce or nonexistent, forcing people to rely on imports, as has been mentioned.
International trade plays a really crucial role in making assistive technology available for those who need it.
Access to imported 80 is restricted by multiple barriers, including, as we've heard, the underutilized trade potential, import tariffs, local taxes, high transportation costs, and logistical challenges.
Identifying strategies to overcome these barriers is essential so that we can improve access across the continent.
The same holds true for low income countries across the world, where, as we've heard, around one in ten people do not have access.
So, one in ten do have access.
About 90% of people in low income countries do not have access, but manufacturers in the main in Europe, North America, or China.
Next slide, please.
Just briefly, what did we study? What was the scope of the study? We really focused on four assisted products, hearing aids, prosthesis, eyeglasses, and wheelchairs.
The study was Pan African and focused on five select countries, Chad, Egypt, Kenya, Mozambique and the Republic of Congo.
I wanted also to mention that the study didn't look at the entire supply chain, but rather the middle of the process.
On the right, you see the figure there that shows it was from import to distribution.
That's the focus that we're looking at.
Next slide, please.
With regards to the methodology, I invite you to read the report where it's explained in full, but I just wanted to note that researchers undertook a mixed method approach to this technical report with over 40 experts consulted and a harmonized analytical framework applied.
Next slide, please.
Onto the key findings, what's really the meat of the report? With regard to trade flows and my apologies that these graphs are quite small to see on the screen, but again, I invite you to go online and look at the report in detail.
But what this is telling us is that the African continent accounts for the smallest share of global assistive technology inputs.
With hearing aids, prosthesis, spectacles and wheelchairs by African countries totaling USD 6.5 billion 2016-2023, which is just over 1% of total world imports.
So the African continent relies on external market for assisted product imports and in those same years, intraregional trade accounted for only 3.6% of total imports.
Next slide, please.
With regards to tariff regimes.
While many countries exempt hearing aids and wheelchairs, spectacles are often taxed as luxury goods.
As we heard earlier from Sir Stephen, tariffs can reach up to 30% for eyeglasses.
Amongst the select countries, tariffs on hearing aids, prosthesis, orthosis, and wheelchairs range from naught to 5%, whereas average tariffs on spectacles can go up to 26%.
Next slide, please.
This slide is looking now at VAT, so the value added tax.
When we're looking at tax structures in these countries, the table shows on the top line that VAT systems follow a broadly similar architecture, standard VAT rates complemented by exemptions or zero rating for priority goods.
VAT treatment of assistive products is inconsistent.
Hearing aid, prosthesis, orthosis, and wheelchairs are often exempted.
Spectacles, lenses, and frames remain subject to full value added tax.
Next slide, please.
This slide is unpacking the cost a little bit more and the chart on the left here with the different shades of blue shows that from factory to final price after customs charge for eyeglasses of 25%, there's then added import tariffs of 10%, and then added VAT of 16%.
So the final price of a pair of glasses in Kenya is 1.6 times the factory price.
Hearing aids on the right hand side still pay a 25% logistic cost and the price after customs and clearance is 1.25 the factory price.
Next slide.
This slide could actually be quite a positive solution if we concentrate more on what was called preferential trade agreements.
The role of regional, inter regional, and partner preferential trade treatments can eliminate tariffs on a key assisted products.
The researchers looked at those in Republic of the Congo and saw that there's been quite significant impact with AT imports from partner countries rising from 2.4% to 26.1% after agreements took effect.
This study recommends that this is an area to look at more closely.
Next slide.
Finally, a good news story, Zimbabwe.
The study does include some case studies of countries that have been able to advance access to assistive products by reducing import tariffs and taxes applied to imports of assistive technology.
The main example from the report is from Zimbabwe where they have successfully eliminated import taxes on priority assistive technology.
First of all, they established a multi sector working group that conducted a revenue impact assessment and prioritized the needs of persons with disabilities.
The role that organizations of persons with disabilities played in this policy reform is important to note.
Thanks to their advocacy during budget consultations, the revenue impact was assessed and government eliminated import taxes on priority assisted products for persons with disabilities.
Next slide.
There's a number of recommendations in the report, and we heard some already from Stephen, which is great to hear from you.
I'm just going to summarize some of them in the interest of time.
The report recommends that governments use more accurate harmonized system codes to track trade.
That governments align trade policies with local or regional production capacities and assisted products as essential goods.
To ensure existing tariff exemptions are actually applied at the customs level through training for officials, to foster a whole of government approach and continue the work of the interagency working group to align priorities across trade, finance, and social sectors and meaningfully involve organizations of persons with disabilities in all stages of policy design, implementation, and monitoring.
So we need a flexible evidence based and cross sectoral collaboration to move from political commitments to concrete actions that lower trade barriers and expand access to assistive technology for all who need it.
I invite you to read the report where you can dig into broader analysis and findings.
I just end on a key message.
Assistive technology is a trade issue and we need to look at it from that perspective as well as from a rights, health and social development perspective.
Thank you.
It's a brilliant report, and we need this type of evidence to be able to bring the sector together, bring the actors together, and then start addressing them.
Also, I think this evidence is very useful for organizations of persons with disabilities who are advocating at the country level, as well as the I mean, the national government itself.
Some people often do not realize I have been in discussions where the government didn't know that this was the case.
I think it's a great report and thanks for shedding light on it.
I would invite all of you to read this report.
Let us now move on to the interactive panel.
We have six speakers, and we start with national implementation.
We have seen how, first of all, assistive devices are not correctly classified, often not classified as essential goods, but consumer goods.
Often, the barriers in trade as you have just seen, there are the coordination between different departments, ministries is often not there, therefore resulting in duplication, resulting in inefficiencies.
I would like to hear from two countries that we have with us.
Miss LC Talfiri, you are the Director of the National Rehabilitation and Disability Division in the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, Solomon Islands.
And we have also a representative from Tanzania who I'd like to introduce later on.
So first of all, miss Talfiri, the floor is yours.
If you can give your reflections on these questions.
How is Solomon Islands? How is the situation? How are you trying to address these issues? Thank you.
Thank you, moderator, distinguished guests and delegates.
I have the honor to present the Solomon Islands government perspective on Assistive Technology and rehabilitation in Solomon Islands.
With the population of Solomon Islands in 2019 census, it is estimated to be around 720,000 plus and should increase by then with the estimated 34.9% of school age children 5-19-years-old.
The census also highlighted that 11% of the population, five years and over reported at least to have a functional form of disability.
A rapid assessment on assistive technology was conducted last year under the Ministry of Health in collaboration with WHO.
The finding was that 20.4% of the population need at least one assistive product and the proportion of people needing assistive technology increases with age and level of functional difficulty.
Women and men report about the same needs for assistive technology.
Spectacles, basic mobility equipment, hearing aids, and basic self care technologies are the most needed and use products.
With that, also there is barriers that we face in terms of service provision for assistive products.
With the geographical scatteredness of our islands, the transport and logistics serves as the greatest challenge that we face for persons with special needs needing access to assistive technology.
With the findings for the survey, barriers for accessing access to technology products being unavailable is 37.4% of people reporting unmet needs.
As I've stated earlier, transport and distance to service is 37.1% and lack of time is 29.9% and some of the people don't know where to go, 28%.
And due to the high prevalence of NCD, the need for 80 is of high demand.
Systems in place for procurement, however, lacks the finance and suppliers and vendors network remains a challenge, which implicates the costs for assistive technology.
Assistive technology supplies are heavily dependent on donations for Solomon Islands.
In most cases, the supplies are secondhand and may not be appropriate for people needing assistive technology.
Lack of national assistive technology standard requirements and specification still a challenge for our country.
What the government has taken on to designate assistive products on essential goods is the adoption of the Solomon Islands National Inclusive Disability Policy and the Solomon Islands Rehabilitation Strategy plan with the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability have strengthened the government's commitment to the provision of assistive technology and rehabilitation, including related support services.
Developing a national priority product list is also one of the steps that the country is progressing on.
With the list looking at adapting the WHO list was a step to be taken and contextualizing it to our country.
With this support from the Pacific Islands countries, developing a national priority product list based on that would also include the Pacific Island countries to support the establishment of a Pacific Rehabilitation Assistive Technology Association, where we refer to as Pratt, which is still in the progress of establishing that association.
This association looks into strengthening the procurement, the financing of assistive products that would be affordable for our people in our Pacific Islands.
This includes Solomon Islands.
In having the steps taken to align with trade policies and strengthen coordination across our ministries to lower the prices for these assistive products, we see the expression of interest that was launched in 2024 and we take on to apply for that expression of interest.
We launched our application and was taken on board as one of the priority countries.
That was the ideal of stepping towards and strengthening assistive technology and rehabilitation ecosystem in the country with focusing on the governance of assistive technology, the coordination, integration of the services, and the financing with procurement, and also looking at the people, products and the policies that will be user friendly for our citizens.
And also the provision of assistive products, particularly for eye and mobility, we anticipate to endorse for the elevation of the ear or hearing services to a national level care of services because currently it's in the tertiary level services.
And also personnels to provide services for assistive products.
We are here very privileged to have this opportunity to share and we are open for you to also ask us any questions, if I may not be clear here, but I have two things to pause here for us to think about.
What are the opportunities available for international cooperation to support rehabilitation and assistive technology in Solomon Islands and also in the Pacific countries, apart from 80 scale.
Because currently we have seven countries in the Pacific Islands that have been awarded this grant and also what lessons we can learn from different perspectives relating to the assistive technology from this group here this afternoon will be a learning for us.
Once again, thank you for the opportunity to share Solomon Allen's perspective on assistive technology.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Mr.
Talifiri for that candid reflection and insights.
And what is clear is there is a lot of areas where there is work in progress, but work has started, and that's the good thing, and there is an intent and you are exploring different ways in which to address the situation, given the unique nature or the uniqueness of the Pacific islands and also giving us an insight what solutions or how you are trying to also address some of the issues at the regional level.
So thank you so much.
For your reflections.
I will now turn to Mr.
Bambua Lucas Casito, Acting Director of the Persons with Disabilities Unit, Office of the Prime Minister of Tanzania.
You have the same question and we'd love to hear your insights.
Thank you again, Mr.
Moderator, Excellency, distinguished delegies, ladies and gentlemen.
As introduced, my name is Wambua situ from the United Republic of Tanzania, serving the Disability Unit.
Again, I thank you all for giving me this time to share the experience of Tanzania, the area of financing assistive technology and navigating international trade systems.
Thank you for this important discussion on financing assistive technology and strengthening international systems that can expand access for persons with disabilities.
For Tanzania, access to assistive technology is not only a health issue, which is a matter of human rights, social inclusion, education, employment, and economic participation.
Assistive products enable persons with disabilities to live independently, access services, and contribute fully to society.
Despite global advances, access to assistive technology remains limited in many developing countries.
The major challenges include high procurement costs, dependence on imported products, fragmented supply chains, inadequate financing mechanisms, and limited availability of products at community level.
Recognizing these challenges, Tanzania has taken important steps to strengthen the nation assistive technology ecosystem.
In 2024, Tanzania developed a national assistive technology strategy in 2024, 2024 to 2027, which provides a roadmap for improving access affordability and sustainability of assistive technology services.
In 2025, a national priority list of assistive products was developed and submitted to the medical stores department, support systematic procurement and distribution.
Tanzania has also invested in strengthening services delivery capacity through integration of assistive technology into primary health care systems.
Through collaboration with the World Health Organization and development partners, frontline workers have been trained to identify needs and facilitate access to assistive products at community level, helping to bring services closer to those who need them most.
However, national efforts alone are not sufficient.
Sustainable access to assistive technology requires stronger international cooperation, innovative financing mechanisms, and more inclusive trade systems.
For many low and middle income countries, the cost of importing assistive products remains a significant barrier.
Reducing trade barriers, strengthening pooled procurement mechanisms, supporting technology transfer, and promoting local and regional production can contribute substantially to improving affordability and availability.
We believe that global financing initiatives and partnerships such as AT Scale have an important role in supporting countries to expand access to equality and affordable assistive technology.
Such partnership can help bridge financing gaps, strengthening supply chains, and building national systems that are sustainable over the long term.
As we work toward achieving the sustainable development goals and fulfilling our commitments under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, we must ensure that assistive technology is recognized as an essential investment rather than optional expenditure.
For Tanszania, the goal is clear to ensure that every person who needs assistive technology can access it regardless of where they live or their economic circumstances.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr.
Kazit.
That was great and very, very practical actions at the national level, the strategy, the priority list, as well as thank you for highlighting that it needs at this point also to be complemented by international cooperation and overall, framing as a human rights issue that places it in an entirely different dimension.
Thank you so much.
I would now like to invite Esther Negaty, who is the youth and Gender advisor at the International Disability Alliance.
Esther, you are yourself a user of assistive technology, you are a youth activist.
How does this high price unavailability, how does it play out in the lives of young people with disabilities and people with disabilities in low income countries and trade tariffs, custom duties, they may seem very technical abstract things.
How can organizations of persons with disabilities advocate better to ensure that as we have heard, they are not classified as consumer goods, but as essential devices.
Esther, the floor is yours.
Thank you, Gal and thank you to the organizers for creating the space to have this essential conversation.
Excellency, distinguished guest.
I speak today as a person who need and uses assistive technology every day.
Assistive technology is not an optional device.
It is what allows me to move, communicate, work, travel, and live fully in my community.
My screen reader, raw materials, and devices, and Accessible digital tools are not luxuries.
They are part of how I exercise my rights.
When we talk about tariffs, taxes, shipping costs, and port delays, we may be using economic language.
But for young people with disabilities, the impact is very personal.
A delay at a port can mean a young blind person waits months for a screen reader, a bra display, or a white skin, or a white skin.
Attacks on an assistive product can mean a student cannot afford the device they need to learn and continue their education.
High import costs a young person cannot take up a job, communicate independently, or participate in public life.
For many young people, especially in low and middle income countries, the issue is not only whether assistive technology exists.
The real question is, can we afford it? Can we get it on time? Is it available in our countries? Can it be repaired locally? Is there training to use it? When assistive technology becomes too expensive, exclusion also becomes more expensive.
Families pay more.
Young people lose opportunity.
Governments lose their contribution of people who could study, work, lead and participate fully if the right support was available.
That is why we must stop treating assisted products as luxury consumer goods.
They are essential human rights tools, often vital for survival, similar to chronic medication and emergency warning systems.
The CRPD reminds us that accessibility, personal mobility, education, employment, and independent living rights.
Assessive technology is often the bridge between those rights on paper and those rights in the real lives of persons with disabilities.
For all PDs, including youth led organizations, advocacy must therefore go beyond health and social welfare ministries.
We need to engage trade and finance ministries, customs authorities, and procurement agencies.
First, we must bring lived experience into economic decision making.
Trade and finance officials need to hear directly from persons with disabilities about what happens when assisted products are delayed, taxed or priced out of reach.
Second, OPDs should advocate for clear national policies that exempt essential assistive technology products from unnecessary tariffs and taxes and ensure those exemptions are actually implemented at the borders.
It is not enough to have a policy on paper if custom officers do not know which products qualify or if ministries are not coordinating.
Third, governments should involve OPDs in defining national priority assistive technology product list.
This will help ensure that policies respond to real assistive technology needs.
Fourth, we need better data We need better data, but the data should not only count how many products were imported or distributed.
It should also ask whether those products are affordable, usable, appropriate, reparable, and whether they actually improve the living conditions of the users.
Finally, we need investment in local and regional supply chains, including repair, maintenance, training and user support.
Important assistive technology product is important, but access will never be sustainable if people cannot repair devices locally or receive support to use them.
Another important aspect of trade is local production.
For as long as low and middle income countries have to rely on sophisticated, expensive imports, not only are the devices not always appropriate for local conditions, but they are simply unaffordable, yet essential Yes, essential.
It becomes extremely extractive and linked to this is intellectual property rights on assistive technology.
My plea and request is that similar to medicines and vaccines, that there is an override on intellectual property when it comes to assistive technology, allowing for local modification and production of internationally untested assistive technology.
When trade systems creates barriers to accessive technology, they create barriers to rights.
For me, assistive technology has been the key to inclusion, independence, and opportunity.
I want that same access and empowerment for every child and young person with disability with a disability.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Esther.
That was so powerful and thank you for articulating and helping us understand how it actually impacts and the impact is profound, as you just ended with.
And also giving us an insight into what as OPD organizations of persons with disabilities you can advocate for, as well as the issues that we have raised on local supply chains on intellectual property.
Well noted.
Thank you so much for highlighting that.
I would like to now move on to our next panelist, miss uling, Director General of the China Disabled People's Federation.
Miss Ling, you have heard from the report about the importance of collaboration in linking geographies that manufacture and geographies where there is a need, unmet need rather, particularly when we're talking about the African region or continent.
According to you, what are the primary barriers that impede this collaboration, this trade, and how can more resilient supply chains be created, built between geographies that manufacture and where there is need? For example, between China and Africa.
The floor is yours, please.
Thank you, Mr.
Moderator.
Excellencies, dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, good evening.
I feel privileged to attend this significant event.
On behalf of China Disabled Persons Federation.
I'd like to express my appreciation for all the stakeholders for your efforts to promote assistive technology worldwide.
Assistive technology is a fundamental prerequisite for people with disabilities to become active participants in and contributors to social development.
China is home to 85 million persons with disabilities and over 310 million older persons aged 60 and above.
Hereby, I'd like to use four as to share China's experience in promoting the assistive technology and share some of my thoughts to benefit people with disabilities in other countries in other regions.
So first is available, making assistive technology available to those with a need.
In China, we have established a five tier assistive technology service system covering the national, provincial, municipal, county, and community levels.
There are over 3,000 service institutions above the county level equipped with more than 2,400 mobile service runs and supported by over 30,000 full time service professionals.
Thanks to this service network, persons with disabilities with need can access appropriate devices.
In 2025 alone, 1.5 million persons with disabilities got basic assistive technology and second, affordable, making assistive technology affordable for all.
Affordability remains a major challenge for many persons with disabilities around the world in accessing assistive technology.
In China, we mobilize the government procurement, social insurance, and public welfare projects, thus steadily building a multi tiered and sustainable financing mechanism for assistive technology seeking to ensure that every person with a need can afford basic assistive technology.
To date, all the 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in China have established subsidy systems for the purchase and fitting of assistive technology.
Priority is given to poor families, persons with severe disabilities and children with disabilities.
And third, accessible, making assistive devices accessible and user friendly.
Assistive devices are not common goods.
Assessment and fitting are crucial.
China has developed and promoted a full service protocol covering initial screening, assessment, fitting, user guidance, and maintenance, effectively reducing device abandonment rates.
At the same time, we strengthen training for technicians.
In 2024 alone, two national level standardized training sessions and 44 provincial level training sessions for frontline staff were organized, training over 2,400 participants.
With rapid development of cutting edge technologies such as AI and brain computer interface, persons with fundamental impairments functional impairments have more opportunities to overcome barriers, enhance the capacities, and enjoy a better life.
Last year, the China Disabled Persons Federation, together with eight government authorities issued the guidelines on empowering persons with disabilities with science and technology.
Mobilizing joint efforts of multi stakeholders such as government, industries, academia, researchers, and persons with disabilities.
One of the top priorities is to integrate advanced technologies into assistive products.
CDPF has successfully hosted 17 editions of Beijing International Care and Rehabilitation Expo, a well established platform displaying over 10,000 innovative assistive technologies annually and connecting enterprises with users.
Last year, we received 80 scale CEO Mr.
Pasa as the expo and this year the expo will take place during September the third to fifth in Beijing and on the table, we have put the detailed information of the expo and all of you are welcome to visit the expo and aboard that is we extend assistive technology services aboard to benefit more people around the world.
Improving access to assistive technology is a global challenge that calls for cooperation and joint action.
China has carried out fruitful cooperation with international partners.
We collaborated with WO to launch the global report on assistive technology and conduct a pilot price review of the priority assistive products list.
And CDPF is a founding member of AT scale.
We worked together on the global report on the assistive technology market in low and middle income countries and organized the international dialogue enhancing global access to assistive technology.
With fund support from the Chinese government, we donate assistive technologies, provide technical training, and jointly established assistive technology exhibition centers for counterparts in Southeast Asia and Central Asia.
Chinese eight manufacturers are setting up production basis in UAE at the invitation of our partners there.
More and more countries are now turning their eyesight to assistive technology made in China, which are generally thought to be high quality and reasonably priced.
However, due to misalignment of technical standards, trade barriers, insufficient understanding of the local needs.
It's a pity that Chinese assistive technology potential hasn't been fully tapped to benefit more users in the developing countries.
Looking ahead, we are willing to deepen cooperation with partners in other countries, enhance information sharing and joined innovation, facilitate fairer and more efficient global circulation of assistive technology so that we can enable more persons with disabilities around the world to have access to affordable and good quality assistive technology and live a better life.
Thank you for your attention.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, miss Suling for that very, very comprehensive as well as insightful remarks.
You have highlighted not only how China, with a very well thought out, comprehensive, multi tiered system is being able to meet the assistive technology requirement of its citizens, but also how through international cooperation, through technical cooperation, you are trying to also ensure that these such technologies and solutions are available to the developing countries.
I think also the you pointing out of setting up manufacturing locations in UAE, which is closer to certain geographies, I think is also part of this package of solutions that we need to explore to ensure that assistive technology reaches and it's closer to people who need it.
Thank you so much.
We learned a lot from it.
I will now move on to my own dear colleague from UNICEF, Alex Coth who is a program specialist on disability policy and systems at UNICEF.
Alex, I would like to ask you UNICEF has made expanding access to assistive technology as a strategic priority.
What action is UNICEF taking to ensure that assistive technology, as Mr.
Link mentioned, appropriate, affordable assistive technology is available in low and middle income countries.
Thank you very much, Goal and thank you very much to all the speakers.
UNICEF, obviously, I think we really welcome the report of AT Scale.
I think just to say, it's quite amazing to see the complementarity between different initiatives, AT scale, 80 2030, WHO, UNICEF.
I think it's nice to see all these working together.
I would like to start by the beginning and the end.
Is that we can import, we can facilitate if we don't know who needs what.
If there is no viable market, if there is no clear demand, system will not move, government will not invest, and private market providers will not do their job.
This is one of the biggest priority for UNICEF, early identification with regards to children with disability.
Basically, who are the children who need assistive technology.
I think the Minister for Solomon really articulated that as an issue.
And The second element, for instance, in Rwanda, we are working with the Ministry of Health to include rehabilitation and AT data in the electronic patient record in the health management information system.
We are talking about game changer shift if the Ministry of Health and health insurance mechanism have real time data on who actually needs not only statistics, but names, who needs AT, we get this building up of administrative demands which translate in budget efforts.
The same goes for education, management information system.
This is the beginning.
Then we have the end.
You mentioned it, if you are in the Solomon Island or in remote area of Tanzania, going to the place where I can get the AT, this last buy delivery, Everything we would have done doesn't really matter.
This is also something that UNICEF will increase investment in is basically ecosystem, local provisioning, ecosystem in terms of maintenance, delivery, fitting, and follow up.
Then there is the middle.
I won't insist on all the issues that the speakers raised with regards to tariff tax, et cetera, and maybe to put forward one of the biggest strengths of UNICEF, its procurement footprint.
I We are a massive procurement machine.
We can make quality product more available and more affordable.
We have 250 assistive products covering a wide diversity in our catalog, and we do that through global competitive tendering and long term arrangement.
We can help secure more favorable price, quality insurance, and more predictable lead times for a broad range of assistive product.
This matters for countries that have smaller fragmented market.
Salomon is big in the Pacific compared to Tuvalu.
For instance, when you have 10,000 inhabitants, what kind of power do you have with regards to negotiating your AT demand? Helping countries to pull demands to have clearer specification, to create also better incentive for suppliers to provide better prices.
We have also a global logistic capacity with long term agreement for shipping and freight, which can help reduce some of the transport cost pressure that some low and middle income countries face, but is also particularly important in humanitarian setting.
I just wanted to conclude also that in crisis, this matters even more when systems are broken, but we need to think that preparedness matters.
If we have good local ecosystem before the typhoon, before the earthquake, or unfortunately before conflict starts, the capacity to deliver will be bigger.
We stand, of course, steadfast in our commitment.
We have now a major commitment in our new strategic plan for access of assistive technology to children and we are looking forward to work with you all to ensure that it's a reality.
Thank you very much.
I have 2.5 3 minutes left.
But I feel bad if I don't give an opportunity to ask one or two questions.
So two questions.
Who wants to ask one question? Yes.
Right on your right? Yes, please.
Can you open your mic and Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.
I'm from the Persons Federation of Zia jiang Province, China.
I would like to take this opportunity to share our practices in public private partnership for providing assistive devices to persons with disabilities with the rapid progress of technology, enabling persons with disabilities through silence and technology has been one of our priority areas.
We have actively acted.
As a bridge among the government enterprises and persons with disabilities.
We contacted high tech companies to learn about high tech assistive devices that address the needs of persons with disabilities and promoted the incursion of these devices in the provincial assistive device subsidy catalog.
In 2025 through leveraging government subsidies and corporate donations, we invested more than $40 million to provide free intelligent bianical legs to 2046 people with disabilities, enabling them to stand again.
Jian is home to fast growing technology companies such as Ali Baba, Deep zig, and UTR.
It is also an important R&D hub for assistive technology in China.
We hope to strengthen international cooperation to benefit more persons with disabilities.
Thank you.
By public demand, I'm forced to take only one question.
One more even.
Okay.
But you'll be short, right? Yes.
Is Thank you.
My name is Luke.
I'm I am a director of an Congo organization for handicapped people.
When someone is sick, our loved ones become handicapped.
When there is war, survivors become handicapped.
How will we invest in assistive technology before, during, and after war and emergency situations? Then to conclude, in the Congo, we have Ebola right now, and survivors will become handicapped.
They will need assistive devices.
How can we help these people? How can we save lives in emergency situations? Thank you.
Question, a very practical one and real.
Anyone would like to take an attempt to responding to it? The panelists.
Alex Anyone? Yes.
Take it C one, Esc miss Ling.
I was trying to get to translate.
Yes.
I could not because of the translation, I could not understand it properly.
But can you repeat? Yes.
The question is how we can invest to support people where disaster coming now before, after disaster.
And I take example for Ebola for my count in the DRC now, I see what victim becoming disable.
Sure.
They need assistance medical.
How we can help with these people now and not tomorrow? Yes.
Yes.
I Yeah, I didn't want to dive in that because time was essence, but apparently it's not.
I think you raised a very important point.
One of the things that UNICEF has started to do a few years ago is prepositioning supply, which means before the crisis was traveling, we need to know how many people need, then we need to order, then we need to ship Now we have in the standard supply that we have ready in countries or in logistic hubs, we have prepositioned assistive products, which means the time between the moment where the crisis hit needs are identified and supply will arrive will be much shorter.
This is one of the solution.
It doesn't solve the immediate question that you raised about the unfortunate situation in DC with Ebola, but this is, I think one of the biggest thing that we can do.
And all questions will not have immediate solutions? No, seriously.
That's what we have done, but we work towards creating a solution as was given by a practical example, as was highlighted in Solomon in your remarks, as well as in Tanzania.
It's a journey, but we are better placed, we have better evidence, we have better solutions.
And it requires all of us, when I say all of us, governments, organizations of persons with disabilities, the private sector, experts to come together to find common solutions.
While doing it, as Esther has pointed out, persons with disabilities have to be at the center of it.
It is easier said than done, but there is no other way.
There are other ways which we have tried, have been tried.
It doesn't work.
We have better data, as was pointed out, better evidence, we know where some of the bottlenecks lie.
We also have seen in course of this discussion, some solutions.
This gives us hope, as we were seeing in 20 years of CRPD, implementation, progress has been made, but we started from a very low level overall.
In the next 20 years or ten years, with these solutions, with better evidence, with better technology, with better capacity, we should be able to leapfrog if all of us work together and know the problem and address it.
So thank you for being a part of this discussion, and we take home but some information which it did not have previously, which will help us all those who are working in this area to advance access to assistive technology, thanks to our sponsors, United Kingdom, People's Republic of China, AT Scale, China Disabled People's Persons Federation, and IDA and UNICEF for helping organize this and thank you for being with us.
We know you have other choices, but you prefer to attend this and a strong applause for our panelists.