“Unlock the Everyday” is the theme of World Day for Assistive Technology 2025 – to be marked on 4th June. The focus of this initiative is simple, the problem is large.
What is it About?
Unlock the Everyday is the theme and guiding philosophy behind the first ever global campaign of this sort. A campaign not only to raise awareness of the importance of assistive technology, but of people’s right to access this technology. A right which should apply no matter someone’s income and no matter whereabouts in the world they live. Currently the rate of access to this sort of technology in low-income countries is shockingly low – a mere 10%. Assistive technology itself is defined as covering everything from reading glasses and hearing aids to powerchairs and mobility scooters.
Two wheelchair users in Southwestern Nigeria. CC4.0 by Alaafiabami Oladipupo
Behind that ten percent figure are millions upon millions of individual stories. Stories of people needlessly unable to get an education, to earn a living, to experience life to the fullest. Backed by NGOs, government bodies, and private sector organisations, this initiative wants to put an overlooked yet very severe issue firmly on the map.
It’s all about making the fundamental human rights which assistive technology opens up to people universally available.
Whilst the focus is on those parts of the world where the need for more assistive technology is most overwhelming, this initiative does not ignore access issues to such products within higher-income countries.
The Economic Case for Enhanced Access
Lack of access to living and/or mobility aids doesn’t just result from poverty, it reinforces it. For a child in a low or middle-income country, even a good pair of glasses can make a six figure difference in lifetime income, according to the initiative organisers. Of course, you wouldn’t need to be a trained statistician to realise how obvious that is. Without even a simple item such as glasses, a child’s education will be stymied. And the negative knock-on effects will be for life.
In a nutshell, the message of World Day for Assistive Technology is that, when it comes to access to even the most basic of living aids, scarcity and unaffordability doesn’t have to be the norm. Are you interested in learning more about this initiative? One which is very much in keeping with our own ethos at Lifestyle and Mobility.
Then follow the link below: