Sylvana Lakkis, Mohammed Loutfy and Jana Husseini from DPI Arab Region, Mathew Wright from DPI Australia, Senarath and Lasanthi Attanayake from DPI Sri Lanka, A.S. Narayanan, Zorin Singha and Geeta Sharma from DPI India, Ayassou Komivi from DPI Togo, Idriss Maiga Alzouma from DPI Nigeria, Yatma Fall from DPI Senegal, Pawlos Kassu from DPI Ethiopia, Magino Corporan Lorenzo from DPI Dominican Republic and Dorodi Sharma from DPI Secretariat.

DPI co-sponsored the prestigious Civil Society Forum. Mohammed Loutfy of DPI Arab Region moderated the Closing Session of the CRPD Forum. Sylvana Lakkis, 2nd Vice-Chair of DPI and Chair DPI Arab Region called for meaningful participation of people with disabilities in development, beyond time-bound projects.

Sylvana Lakkis, 2nd Vice-Chair of DPI spoke from the floor during the General Debate on Day 3 of the Conference and called for bridging the knowledge gap at the grassroots and assured of DPI’s continued commitment towards a new global movement of persons with disabilities.

Mohammed Loutfy of DPI Arab Region also spoke from the floor during the General Debate highlighting the issues of people with disabilities in the Arab region and of the new Strategic Plan of the Arab Forum for the Rights of Persons With Disabilities (AFRPD).

Magino Corporán Lorenzo of DPI Dominican Republic spoke at the 3rd Roundtable titled “Enhancing accessibility to information and technology and inclusive development” on Day 3 of the Conference.

"DESA/DSPD Forum: Ways Forward Towards a Disability Inclusive and Accessible New Urban Agenda and its implementation"

"How Can Digital Societies Contribute to Achieving the SDGs for Persons with Disabilities?" organised by SCRPD/DESA and IDPP. Dorodi Sharma spoke at this side-event.

"How Regional Collaboration can Lead to More Effective Implementation of Political Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the 2030 Development Agenda" organised by International Foundation for Electoral Systems. Senarath Attanayake and Mohammad Ali Loutfy spoke at this side-event.

"Harmonizing CRPD Obligations and the 2030 SDG Action Agenda: Closing Gaps in Monitoring Processes and Implementation" organised by G3ict. Dorodi Sharma spoke at this side-event. Also, a presentation on the data collected by DPI and G3ict for the 2016 CRPD ICT Accessibility Report and SDG Survey of Countries 'Readiness and Preparedness' was made at the event. See the full presentation here.

"Urban Development and Human Resilience: An Essential approach towards Inclusive Cities for Persons with Disabilities in the Arab Region/Over View of Kuwait 2035 Vision Towards Persons with Disability" organized by DPI Arab Region.

"Challenges and Opportunities for Accessible Global Governance: Enhancing Participation for Persons with Disabilities in UN Processes" organized by American University. Mohammed Ali Loutfy spoke at this event.

Congratulations to the new DPI World Executive Council: Global Chair (2nd Term) – Javed Abidi, India; Deputy Chair 1 – Henrietta Davis-Wray, Jamaica; Deputy Chair 2 – Sylvana Lakkis, Lebanon; Secretary – Ayassou Komivi, Togo; Treasurer – Shudarson Subedi, Nepal; and Information Officer – Trevor Carroll, Australia.