https://www.internationaldisabilityalliance.org/blog/ida-youth-leader-ca...
From 21 to 23 July 2025, Antonio Palma from Guatemala, youth representative of the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and Secretary of Human Rights of RIADIS, took the global stage at the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), making a powerful case for disability-inclusive development driven by youth leadership.
Representing the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities (SGPwD), Antonio delivered two official statements during the HLPF Ministerial Segment. He championed the need for inclusive, rights-based approaches and urged governments to unlock the full potential of young persons with disabilities as leaders and change agents.
At the Ministerial session on Regional Perspectives on SDG Implementation, Antonio called for stronger accountability mechanisms rooted in human rights, emphasizing the importance of empowering Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) to generate and use robust regional data. In the General Debate on 23 July, he drew attention to persistent structural inequalities and called for the full implementation of the Amman-Berlin Declaration adopted at the 2025 Global Disability Summit, underscoring the urgency of making international development both inclusive and accessible.
Antonio also engaged in high-level dialogues with the Permanent Mission of Guatemala and participated as a speaker in a regional side event on advancing the SDGs, demonstrating the leadership of youth in forging cross-regional strategies.
His participation comes at a time of profound global disruption and transition, marked by inequality, climate crisis, economic instability, and the accelerating pace of digital transformation. In this context, it is more important than ever that the voices of young persons with disabilities are not only heard but actively shape the future of sustainable development. Ensuring that their perspectives are consistently mainstreamed in global policy discourse is essential to building resilient, inclusive, and rights-based systems that leave no one behind.
This active participation is a direct reflection of IDA’s commitment to advancing the role of youth in the global disability movement. Through its Youth Committee, IDA provides mentorship, leadership development, and direct opportunities for young advocates to influence global policy spaces. Antonio’s presence at the HLPF illustrates how IDA is building a new generation of disability rights leaders who are shaping the future of inclusive development.
Beyond Antonio’s interventions, the SGPwD, co-led by IDA, organized two influential events during the HLPF. On 23 July, the event Data for Intersectionality and Persons with Disabilities, co-hosted with Open Data Watch, focused on leveraging citizen-generated and qualitative data to fill critical gaps in disability statistics. Pamela Molina spoke on behalf of both IDA and the World Federation of the Deaf, reinforcing the role of intersectional data in driving equitable outcomes.
On 17 July, the virtual session SDGs in Practice: Inclusive Policies and Stakeholder Engagement for the 2030 Agenda brought together global voices to explore how to translate commitments into action. Mohammed Loutfy, Co-Chair of the SGPwD, spoke on effective inclusion strategies.
By amplifying young voices and equipping them to lead at the highest levels, IDA is driving a more inclusive and representative disability movement, one that is shaping the global development agenda now and into the future.
