The 2025 Berlin Global Disability Summit: Responding to the escalating crisis of disability related to war

In 2025, conflicts across Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Syria, and beyond created disability at a scale unseen in decades. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project recorded over 240,000 conflict-related deaths from December 2024 to November 2025. In Gaza alone, 4,800 documented limb amputations occurred since October 2023, with ten children losing one or both legs every day. More than 21,000 Palestinian children acquired disabilities during the conflict. In Ukraine, over 2,100 health facilities were damaged or destroyed, whilst 1.7 million school-aged children remained displaced. Sudan's civil war displaced over 12 million people.

When 4,700 participants from over 160 countries gathered in Berlin from 2-3 April for the third Global Disability Summit, the context was stark: the international community was creating disability faster than it could respond to it.

Why Berlin Mattered in 2025

When conflicts across multiple regions were producing waves of newly disabled persons—many of them children—the Summit represented an attempt at coordinated response. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan jointly opened proceedings, bringing together governments, the World Health Organisation, UN agencies, development banks, private sector leaders, and organisations of persons with disabilities from over 110 countries.

Seventy-one governments endorsed the Amman-Berlin Declaration. Seventeen regional organisations signed on. Seven development banks committed resources. Over 800 pledges were made a 60% increase from the 2022 Summit. Many included specific targets, timelines, and funding commitments.

The Convening Power That Matters

Conferences can be relatively simple to organise. Meaningful change is not. What distinguished the Berlin Summit was its ability to convene decision-makers who control budgets, policies, and programmes alongside the people whose lives those decisions affect—particularly crucial in a year when conflict was creating disabilities faster than the humanitarian system could respond.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation, used the platform to announce a global initiative on health equity for persons with disabilities, stating: "Inclusion must be a right and it should not be negotiable. WHO's position starts from that and WHO has been working on disability for many years." He added bluntly: "Universal health coverage cannot happen without including the 1.3 billion persons with disabilities globally. All countries have to mainstream inclusion in their policies."

This institutional commitment matters in a year when healthcare systems in conflict zones are being systematically destroyed. In Gaza, 84% of health facilities were damaged or destroyed. Ukraine lost over 2,100 health facilities. Sudan's medical infrastructure collapsed under civil war. The WHO's global initiative represented a commitment to rebuild with inclusion at the foundation, not as an afterthought.

Education Cannot Wait (ECW) used the Summit to announce pledges with Germany, the UK, and the International Disability Alliance to strengthen data collection on inclusive education in crisis settings. ECW noted: "We cannot achieve our goals of universal education and human rights if we leave children with disabilities behind. This is the very foundation of our collective global efforts to build a better world through the power of education."

The data they're responding to is stark: 234 million children and adolescents are affected by conflict and emergencies, with 85 million out of school. Children with disabilities make up 20% of all out-of-school children in crisis contexts—17 million young people who are doubly disadvantaged.

Dr. Nawaf Kabbara, President of the International Disability Alliance, used his opening remarks to challenge the very language of inclusion, arguing that progress requires moving "from 'inclusion for persons with disabilities' to 'inclusion with persons with disabilities.'" He stressed that "true disability inclusion cannot be achieved unless Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) are at the table where funding decisions are made."

The 15% Target: Ambition or Window Dressing?

The Summit's headline achievement was the "15% for 15%" target in the Amman-Berlin Declaration: at least 15% of international development programmes should explicitly pursue disability inclusion as an objective by 2028.

Why does this matter? Currently, only 6% of development projects directly contribute to disability inclusion. That's a failure rate of 94% for the principle of "leaving no one behind."

German Development Minister Svenja Schulze committed Germany to the target even as other countries were cutting inclusion funding, noting that "development policy can only succeed when all stakeholders collaborate." Jordan announced 133 commitments from 88 national organisations—government bodies, civil society, academia, media, and private sector. UNICEF pledged to allocate 10% of its annual budget to children with disabilities by 2030.

Whether these commitments will translate into action remains to be seen. The Summit established a monitoring mechanism with the next review cycle beginning in April 2026. That's when we'll know if Berlin was a turning point or just another well-intentioned gathering.

King Abdullah's Address: Leadership in a Year of Crisis

In a Summit filled with institutional commitments and policy frameworks, His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan delivered an address that grounded abstract principles in human experience. Speaking as co-host of a Summit held during one of the darkest years for conflict-related disability in modern history, his remarks offered both unflinching honesty about challenges and concrete evidence of what's possible.

Here are five takeaways from his speech, illustrating why Jordan's leadership mattered in 2025:

1. Inclusion Means Recognising Human Potential

King Abdullah framed inclusion not merely as accessibility, but as unleashing capability: "Inclusivity is not only about ensuring accessibility for people with disabilities, but also about recognising the potential in every human being and providing an environment in which everyone can contribute."

This reframing is crucial in 2025. When tens of thousands of people—many of them children—have just acquired disabilities through violence, the question isn't just about removing barriers. It's about ensuring that a child who lost a leg in Gaza, or a veteran who sustained a spinal injury in Ukraine, can still build a meaningful life. Recognition of potential becomes the foundation for rehabilitation, education, employment, and social inclusion.

2. Partnership Is Non-Negotiable

The King was explicit about who needs to be involved: "The work to turn good ideas into new realities rests on partnership—of governments, private sectors, civil society, the business community, and more. Together, here at this Summit—and in all the days ahead—we must work together; we must commit; and we must act—to ensure that everyone can live their lives in dignity, happiness, and hope."

Jordan demonstrated this principle through the 70 Jordanian entities, spanning public and private sectors, made commitments to the Summit. The country established the Royal Academy for Inclusive Education to drive systemic change. In a year when fragmentation and unilateral action characterised much international response, this approach illustrated coordinated, multi-stakeholder engagement.

3. Conflict Zones Demand Immediate Humanitarian Action

HM King Abdullah drew attention directly to the crisis that defined 2025: "People with disabilities are exceptionally vulnerable" in conflict zones, he stated. Highlighting Gaza, he noted that it "has the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world, along with massive numbers of injured adults. Medical facilities have been destroyed. So help must come from all of us."

These weren't abstract statistics to Jordan. With 4,800 documented limb amputations in Gaza, at the time the WHO estimating ten children losing limbs daily, and 84% of health facilities destroyed, the scale of need was overwhelming. HM King Abdullah's remarks made clear that humanitarian action cannot wait for peace agreements or political settlements.

4. Innovation Through International Collaboration Delivers Hope

The King showcased Jordan's "Restoring Hope" initiative as proof that innovation can meet crisis: Jordan's Royal Medical Services deployed two mobile prosthetic clinics to Gaza. Describing the technology, he explained: "Equipped with specialised technologies, they can safely fit a functioning prosthesis in just a few hours. Let me point out, these technologies were developed by two international companies, an example of the kind of critical partnerships we need."

To date, hundreds of amputees, including children, have received prosthetic limbs through this initiative. In a year when children in Gaza were being discharged from hospitals without prosthetics, when waiting lists stretched into the hundreds, when basic medical supplies were blocked, Jordan's mobile clinics represented tangible hope. The model combined Jordanian medical expertise with international technological innovation—precisely the kind of partnership the Summit was designed to catalyse.

5. Honesty About Progress and Gaps

HM King Abdullah refused to claim mission accomplished, asking: "Have we done enough? We still have much work to do... to make sure that all Jordanians with disabilities can easily travel to schools and shops and voting centres; to get good jobs; to live independently; to find acceptance, respect and love."

Jordan was an early signatory to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It amended its Constitution to reflect commitment to dignity and respect. It has legislation upholding disability rights and national strategies on accessibility, independent living, and inclusive education. Yet the King acknowledged that infrastructure, employment, independent living, and social acceptance remain challenges.

In a year when conflicts were creating disabilities faster than systems could respond, when the gap between international commitments and lived reality was stark, authentic leadership required acknowledging what remains undone. HM King Abdullah's candour set a standard: celebrate progress but maintain focus on the work ahead.

What Happens Next

The Summit produced 800 commitments, with the first accountability cycle beginning in April 2026. Whether Berlin represented a genuine turning point depends on what follows.

In a year when support for children in Gaza was so constrained by medical supplies being blocked, or when Ukrainian amputees waited months for rehabilitation due to bottlenecks and shortfalls in capacity —the urgency was clear.

HM King Abdullah closed his remarks with a challenge: "Where one challenge holds us back, other strengths and abilities can become our gateway forward: That's something that people with disabilities have proven to the world, again and again. It's time to use the world's every strength to move past our challenges."

Jordan's "Restoring Hope" initiative demonstrated what's possible when humanitarian need meets practical innovation. The "15% for 15%" target provided a concrete metric. The 800 commitments created points for monitoring progress.

Whether this translates into prosthetics for Gazan children, rehabilitation for Ukrainian veterans, mental health support and inclusive reconstruction will depend on implementation of the ides discussed at the conference. But the international community has, at least, articulated a clear vision for disability-inclusive development at a moment when it's particularly needed.

The Berlin Summit brought decision-makers and persons with disabilities to the same table. The monitoring mechanisms exist. What remains to be seen is whether the commitments made in April 2025 will translate into meaningful change for those whose lives were most affected by the year's conflicts.