38 year old Ronald Joseph lost both his legs in a motorcycle accident in 1997. On 11 March, 2011, with the help of the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Help for Haiti, Joseph transformed his personal loss into a communal gain by opening a school for disabled children in the poor and often volatile Cité Soleil. Currently the school with its single classroom helps 50 children from the neighbourhood, but expansion plans are underway. A young student poses in the classroom. UN PHOTO/Logan Abassi

Amputees play in a football game, part of the activities planned in observance of the International Day of Peace, organized by the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). 21 September 2008 Monrovia, Liberia UN Photo/Christopher Herwig

Members of the "Rudely Interrupted" indie rock music group from Australia, who share a range of disabilities (blindness, deafness, Asperger's, autism and Down Syndrome), perform at a ceremony in observance of the International Day of Persons with Disablilities, organized by the Permanent Missions of Australia and Hungary to the United Nations, in cooperation with the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 03 December 2008 United Nations, New York

A blind boy named Emmanuel joins American singer and UN Peace Messenger, Stevie Wonder, on stage during the UN Day Concert, “A Message of Peace”. Emmanuel read aloud a letter he’d written to the musician, who is also blind, about what an inspiration he is to him. UN Photo/JC McIlwaine

A disabled veteran of the rebel movement in Libya makes a peace sign during a military graduation ceremony held in the western Libyan city of Al-Zawiya. 17 December 2011 Al-Zawiya, Libya UN Photo/Iason Foounten

A close-up of Salah Aldin Abdurrahman, a 27-year-old blind man and member of the Sudanese Association for Disabled People in El Fasher, North Darfur. The organization assists persons with disabilities across Darfur. 17 November 2011 El Fasher, Sudan