Secretary Antony J. Blinken – Disability Rights as Foreign Policy

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you. Good morning, everyone.

AUDIENCE: Good morning.

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Okay, so here’s a professional tip. Never follow Sara Minkara. (Laughter.) It’s a little bit like getting on stage after Taylor Swift. (Laughter.)

Sara, it’s not just that I’m proud of you; it’s that I’m grateful for you, and for your entire team. The work that you’ve done to create new and different and cross-cutting connections for us in our foreign policy strengthens and elevates our foreign policy. And I’m going to speak a little bit to that in a few minutes. But I think one of the best things that we’ve done in this administration is to unleash Sara and her team on the world. And as Sara said a few moments ago, the only word that’s really not in her vocabulary is the word “no.” And this team has always found a way to get to the destination, and I couldn’t be more grateful for that.

Robert, to you, thank you for the introduction, but also thank you for the exceptional leadership as our special advisor on international – Sara, to you, Special Advisor on International Disability Rights. Robert, I’m glad we got you back. (Laughter.) You snuck out, but we got you back for the day.

So around the world, we have about 1.3 billion people with a disability. That’s about 16 percent of the global population.

People with disabilities are affected by every issue facing our countries today – whether that’s adapting to climate change, whether it’s growing our economies, whether it’s resolving conflicts, whether it’s shaping the rules and norms of emerging technology.  

And yet we know across the globe people with disabilities are all too often excluded from critical conversations. And you heard Sara speak to that very eloquently a few moments ago.

More than half of people with disabilities live in areas that are affected by mass conflict, yet only about 6 percent of the peace agreements that have been reached actually reference people with disabilities.

Eighty percent of people with disabilities live in countries that are at the greatest risk from the effects of climate change, yet only 8 percent of disaster preparedness plans worldwide explicitly address the needs of people with disabilities – including making evacuation plans accessible.  

So we have a responsibility – all of us – to deliver for all of our people. Not some of them, not certain groups – all of our people.

And that’s, in part, because everyone’s safety, everyone’s security, everyone’s prosperity is deeply connected – and, I would argue, more connected than ever before. History shows us that equitable societies tend to be more stable, more resilient, more innovative. So when our policies exclude those with disabilities, they actually fail all of us. But when we incorporate the needs, the insights of people with disabilities, we all benefit from their talents, from their expertise, from their leadership.

Our first Special Advisor on International Disability Rights, Judy Heumann, was an incredibly powerful advocate for these issues. I remember very, very palpably – powerfully – being with Judy and being with a delegation from the People’s Republic of China. The meeting that we had here at the department – and this is back in, I think, 2015, 2016 – was remarkably powerful in connecting our countries and connecting our communities in different ways. And Judy had an exceptional ability to do that.

She once said – and I quote – “I believe that my life has demonstrated, [that] the lives of so many other disabled people – [all of us] – that our contributions are strengthening our communities every day.”

And that remains the case today.

For example, here in the United States, people with disabilities accounted for nearly 30 percent of the growth of our labor force between 2021 and 2023 – boosting our competitiveness, powering economic growth for our whole country. 

That’s why we’ve made it a priority to incorporate disability inclusion and perspectives into every aspect of our foreign policy.

We’re making the State Department itself more accessible, in part by moving the Foreign Service application process fully online. That means candidates don’t have to travel here to Washington, D.C. for an interview. We’ve brought on a sign language interpreter for our press briefings so journalists and viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing can join these policy conversations. We’re also making the bidding process for our senior positions, including deputy assistant secretaries, more equitable, more transparent, to build a pipeline for leaders with disabilities.

Now, having said all that, we still have a lot more work to do to address the systemic barriers that exist for diplomats with disabilities. And Sara alluded to that as well.

At the same time, we’re also putting disability rights at the heart of our strategies, our policies, our diplomacy.  

As we stand with Ukraine against Russia’s war of aggression, we’re working to address the needs of the disability community by improving access to medical care, including helping provide prosthetics for people who’ve lost limbs. We’re also working together to support Ukraine as it rebuilds, in part by sharing best practices for community and independent living facilities.  

Now, you heard Robert say this a little while ago. Sara’s the one who asked the question: How are we thinking about this conflict in Ukraine, this aggression by Russia in Ukraine, in terms of the needs and the insights and involvement of the disabled community? And it’s by asking that question and getting us to focus on it that we’ve actually made progress and made a difference.

To build greater economic growth, we’re joining efforts to create more equitable opportunities. In Kenya, for example, we’re working with Coca-Cola to provide skills training and professional networks for women retailers with disabilities. That way, they can negotiate better deals, from selling Coca-Cola products and growing their own businesses.

To build stronger, more inclusive democracies, the United States supported a program in Sri Lanka that developed new sign – new signs, excuse me – in sign language for words related to elections and voting. The initiative then taught them to election officials, sign language interpreters, members of the deaf community. Previously, Sri Lankans who are deaf or hard of hearing could run into communication barriers at polling sites. With these new terms, they have more opportunities to fully participate in the electoral process.

We’re also integrating disability rights at international organizations so we can put our collective power behind these issues. At the G7, Sara contributed to the creation of the very first Ministerial on Inclusion and Disability. Last year we held the first-ever U.S.-ASEAN disability dialogue. With the C5+1 – our summit with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – Sara put disability rights on our agenda. 

We’re making progress. But to keep up this momentum, integrating disability rights needs to be a part of everyone’s job because these issues touch on every bureau and every portfolio here at the department.

And that’s at the heart of what really brings us together today. Thanks to Sara’s team, thanks to our embassy in Peru – formerly led by Ambassador Lisa Kenna – we now have a playbook that shows our employees how they can incorporate disability issues into their own work.

And I looked through this playbook last night. It’s a remarkable piece of work, and just as a practical guide, incredibly, incredibly helpful. And I really commend it to all of you, to all of your offices and bureaus.

The playbook offers recommendations for every foreign policy topic and every section of our embassies. These suggestions are straightforward, they’re scalable, they’re standardized, based on experience and lessons learned from the field.

So to everyone at State, take a look at this playbook and look for ways that you can do your part. Brainstorm with colleagues. Reach out to the Special Advisor’s office if you encounter challenges along the way. Make use of resources like our Office of Civil Rights, our Diversity and Inclusion team, or your bureau’s DEIA advisors.

If we continue to make disability issues a priority, if we do it across the Department, we can do so much more to deliver for all our people, to build stronger, more vibrant societies for people everywhere.

And again, I come back to this because I’ve seen it in action – to connect in new and different ways with countries that we’re seeking to build stronger partnerships with, stronger allyships with. That’s why this is so important to our foreign policy. It’s a powerful tool for us.

And Sara, to you, to your team, thank you, thank you, thank you for the extraordinary work. But there’s more work to be done, and I know you’re going to be doing it.

Thanks, everyone. (Applause.)