Dates to be confirmed
GATE Summit 2025, initially scheduled for 7-8 May has been postponed. Hosted by WHO under the GATE Initiative and in collaboration with UNICEF, the Summit will bring together key stakeholders to highlight and prioritize global, regional, and national actions needed to accelerate equitable access to assistive technology.Purpose
The GATE Summit will build on progress in the sector with the overall goal of collaboration within and between sectors and partners to achieve a consensus-driven Global roadmap for priority investment and action to accelerate equitable access to assistive technology.
Background
The WHO and UNICEF Global report on assistive technology identifies that 2.5 billion people globally need assistive technology, growing to 3.5 billion by 2050. Equitable access to assistive technology enables better health outcomes, and realization of human rights, and facilitates collective and inclusive achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Despite the need and benefits, there is significant global inequity of access to quality, affordable assistive products and services needed to ensure they match a person’s needs. Household surveys conducted for the Global report found that in some low-income countries, as few as 3% of people have the assistive products they need; and more than 67% of people accessed their products through shops through out-of-pocket payments. The report also highlights the surge in need during the humanitarian crisis, magnified by a lack of preparedness to respond.
The 2018 World Health Assembly Resolution (71.8) on assistive technology, followed by the Global report in 2022 and other global initiatives, has increased awareness and interest in assistive technology as a key issue within health, education, labour, humanitarian, and other sectors. Progress has been made towards closing the gaps in access, including increasingly comprehensive global guidance and country-level actions. However, the pace of progress, in particular for low- and middle-income countries, remains slow in contrast to the growing need. There also remains a lack of understanding amongst decision-makers and advocates on how to achieve effective access for diverse groups of service users across varied contexts and on the potential of emerging opportunities such as digital health technology.
Objectives
- Heighten awareness of the need for assistive technology and build shared knowledge of strategies to improve access considering the themes of who, where, and how, through presenting evidence-based information and best practice examples of national, regional, and global initiatives.
- Broaden the network of stakeholders across sectors and levels that are actively engaged in taking action to increase access to assistive technology, through using a hybrid approach and ensuring at least 40% of in-person participants are attending a GATE Summit for the first time.
- Strengthen partnership and collaboration on assistive technology between Member States, UN, civil society and other key stakeholders, by providing an open forum for sharing ideas and opportunities.
- Reach consensus on a Global road map for accelerating access to assistive technology.
Summit details
Dates: To be confirmed
Venue: WHO headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland
Working language: English
Interpretation for GATE Summit Plenary: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish
Format: Hybrid
Participation
GATE Summit 2025 will draw together government representatives; WHO, UNICEF, and other UN Agency personnel; assistive technology service user advocates and their representative bodies including organizations of persons with disabilities, older persons, and others; assistive technology service providers and their representative associations; researchers; educators; development partners; donors; and innovators.
In-person attendance will be through invitation only.
Remote participation will be open to all through approved registration. Registration links will be added here.
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