Geneva, September 09 (QNA) - The Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Office in Geneva participated today in co-organizing a side event titled "From Narrative to Evidence: Advancing Indicator-Based Disability Reporting," in cooperation with the Permanent Mission of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf to the UN Office in Geneva, and the Executive Bureau of the Council of Ministers of Labor and Social Affairs in GCC States. 
The event marked the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the Palace of Nations in Geneva.
The event was attended by representatives of diplomatic missions, international and regional organizations, entities concerned with the rights of persons with disabilities, along with a number of experts and specialists in the fields of data, statistics, and human rights indicators.
In her opening speech, HE Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Office in Geneva Dr. Hend Abdulrahman Al Muftah emphasized that the State of Qatar attaches great importance to acceding to international human rights conventions as an essential part of efforts to strengthen the normative framework for rights and freedoms at the national level.
She added that the State of Qatar has joined seven of the nine core international human rights conventions, alongside a number of their optional protocols, and is keen to fulfill its obligations in submitting periodic reports and implementing resulting commitments nationally.
Her Excellency explained that regarding the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the State of Qatar was among the first countries to accede to it, extending its focus beyond the national level to regional and international cooperation by supporting various initiatives related to the rights of persons with disabilities.
Among the most prominent of these initiatives were submitting and sponsoring draft resolutions at the United Nations, including the resolution declaring Apr. 2 as World Autism Awareness Day, as well as the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2025 declaring June 27th as the International Day of Deafblindness.
Furthermore, the State of Qatar is preparing to host the Fourth Global Disability Summit in Doha in 2028, in cooperation with the International Disability Alliance.
She noted that during the discussion of its latest report before the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Qatar was keen to adopt an approach based on transparency, objectivity, and constructive dialogue, allowing for a realistic assessment of progress and existing challenges, and facilitating the exchange of experiences and practices between the State and the Committee.
HE Director General of the Executive Bureau of the Council of Ministers of Labor and Social Affairs in GCC States Mohammed bin Hassan Al Obaidli also delivered an opening speech at the event. Speakers included Rehab Boursli from the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Director of Population and Social Statistics at the GCC Statistical Center Ali Buharoon, Senior Disability Specialist at the International Labour Organization Stefan Tromel, Mona Abdelgawad, an expert tasked with preparing the third report on the prospects of implementing and monitoring the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Human Rights advisor at the International Disability Alliance Mirriam Nthenge, Director of Community Care Department at the Ministry of Social Development and Family Reem Khalifa Al Ajmi, Director of the Dubai People of Determination Center in the United Arab Emirates Aisha Abdullah Al Darbi, and Deputy Director-General of the Public Authority for Disability Affairs in the State of Kuwait Dr. Khalifa Al Hilaa. 
The discussion was moderated by Mohamed Al Ghaith, Director of Labor and Social Development at the Executive Bureau of the GCC Council of Ministers of Labor and Social Affairs.
This event comes amid the need to enhance the effectiveness of reporting and monitoring in the field of the rights of persons with disabilities, aiming to move from narrative description to measuring progress more accurately and clearly, and to promote the use of data and human rights indicators in supporting accountability and decision-making, thereby contributing to the development of more effective policies for persons with disabilities. (QNA)