This landmark legally binding treaty entered into force on 3 May 2008, marking an important milestone in the effort to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights for all people.
Ahead of the 17th Conference of the States Parties (COSP17) starting on 11 June, here are five fast facts about the Convention and how it continues to impact the lives of 1.3 billion men , women and children with disabilities around the world:
A four-year-old boy plays in a learning center in Bratislava, Ukraine.
1. Why the world needs the Convention
People with disabilities face discrimination and are denied human rights around the world. Social barriers are the problem, not personal weakness.
That is why the Convention exists.
The Convention is a human rights treaty that sets out how to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities around the world.
The goal is to create an enabling environment so that people with disabilities can enjoy true equality in society.
A 9-year-old child plays on a seesaw with friends in an inclusive playground at his school in the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan.
2. Right to be protected
The Convention emphasizes that people with disabilities must have their dignity respected, their voices heard and be included in making decisions that affect their lives. That includes all rights, from freedom of speech and education to health care and employment.
The treaty requires countries to remove obstacles that prevent people with disabilities from fully participating in all fields, from technology to politics.
It addresses those barriers, including discrimination and access, and calls for equality for women and girls. In addition, the treaty outlines ways in which countries around the world can remove barriers that prevent people with disabilities from fully enjoying all of their rights.
Despite all the technical difficulties in leaving home, Dmitry Kuzuk still shops and lives an independent life in Moldova. (document)
3. How the treaty is implemented
There are a number of ways for the Convention to be enforced, respected and implemented.
Individuals can present a petition to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to report violations of their rights.
“The mere existence of the Convention gives people with disabilities and their organizations the ability to say to their governments ‘you have accepted these obligations’ and to insist that those obligations be met. response.” said Don MacKay, chairman of the treaty drafting committee.
The 18-member Geneva-based Committee can also conduct investigations into serious or systematic violations of the Convention and monitor whether rights are being properly applied, online and offline in peacetime, war and other crises or not.
A young boy attends a discussion on health and wellbeing at an event held for World Down Syndrome Day at the United Nations Headquarters. (document)
4. A seat at the table
The key to progress is bringing those whose rights are affected to the negotiating table.
This year, hundreds of delegates from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) will travel to New York to participate in the latest Conference of Member States, COSP17, to be held in June 2024, one of the the largest global meeting on disability rights.
Since the time the treaty was negotiated, the views and input of people with disabilities have been heard at meetings at the United Nations and in countries around the world.
The larger desk at the United Nations Headquarters now meets accessibility requirements, including wheelchair accessibility, use of hearing aids, documents in Braille, large print or the use of use sign language.
Music legend and United Nations Messenger of Peace Stevie Wonder speaks at the General Assembly’s high-level meeting on disability and development in 2013. (file)
5. In the spotlight
Global celebrities such as singer-songwriter and United Nations Messenger of Peace Stevie Wonder, who is blind, have also added their voices.
“Just because someone is visible doesn’t mean they should be blind to the things in the world that we need to fix,” Mr. Wonder speaknote that there are 300 million visually impaired people worldwide.
“We are truly capable people with different abilities. We have to be inclusive.”
Watch the United Nations video Stories from the United Nations Archives on how musical symbols challenge assumptions about Braille: This.
“I think there are certain stereotypes that we hear about autism, and I learned very quickly through meeting people who have been parents of children with autism or meeting people with autism that Those stereotypes don’t really exist,” the actor said. Dakota Fanning tells UN News in conversation about her role as Wendy, who has autism, in the film Please wait.
“So I felt that I didn’t want to perpetuate stereotypes and I wanted to really portray her like I would portray any other young woman,” she said.
Nick Herd at the United Nations General Assembly Hall for COSP16. (document)
“I have lived with discrimination my entire life,” said Canadian activist, actor and talk show host Nick Herd, who was born with Down syndrome.
“When I was little and growing up, I was bullied because of my disability, but now I can use that voice, from when I was a kid, to be heard louder and louder. I can shout it from the roof of a building or from a mountain, louder than the United Nations so that people with disabilities can be included at the negotiating table.”
Giles Duley devoted his work as a photographer to documenting the impact of war. He himself was seriously injured in Afghanistan and continued to fight on all fronts to heal his own wounds and those of others.
“During war, people with disabilities are often victimized, denied equality in humanitarian assistance and excluded from peace processes,” speak Renowned photographer Giles Duley, the United Nations’ first Global Advocate for People with Disabilities in Conflict and Peacebuilding Situations.
“It is time for change and if we work together, we have the power and opportunity to make that change.”
Who is on board?
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was opened for signature in 2006. Below are the participants:
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is awaiting signature by representatives of member countries in 2006. (file)
- As of today, 191 countries and United Nations observers ratified the treaty, and 106 ratified the Optional Protocol
- Since the Convention entered into force in 2008, the United Nations and its agencies have worked to expand its provisions.
- The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development aims to leave no one behind in 17 years Sustainable development goals (SDG)
- The Future Summit intends to reorganize international cooperation to be comprehensive on a large scale
- Check United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy
- Convention and it Optional protocol establish annual meetings of the treaty’s signatories – the “Conference of the States Parties” (COSP) – to monitor implementation and discuss current topics and trends, with this year’s COSP17 focusing on employment issues, technological and humanitarian emergencies at the meeting in United Nations Headquarters from 11 to 13 June 2024
- Learn about the Disability Rights Commission This
- Keep track of past and present Annual Conferences of Member States (COSP). This
