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United
Nations Disability
Rights Convention
Worldwide there are approximately 600
million people with disabilities. In the year 2000, in the United States
alone 41.9%
(Source: US Census
Bureau) of the population of 65 years and over live with some
disability. The rights of disabled people
both in rich and poor countries are often weak or at times non-existent.
Global Action on Aging strongly supports an international convention on
the rights of people with disabilities to safeguard those who enter old
age with a lifelong disability as well as those who acquire a disabling
condition in old age.
In December
2001, Mexico, with the support of lobbying groups, initiated a UN General
Assembly resolution to establish an Ad Hoc Committee to develop a proposal
for an international convention on the rights of people with disability.
The Committee entitled the "Ad
Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on
the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with
Disabilities" is open to all
Member
States
and observers to the United Nations.
On this page you will find GAA reports on the Committee's fifth session as
well as documents relating to the situation of elderly with disabilities
world wide.
US Signs UN Disabilities Pact in Change of Course (July 31, 2009)
The United States recently signed a UN convention aimed at ensuring equal rights for the world’s 650 million disabled people. The 32-page UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities outlaws all forms of discrimination at work on the basis of disability, including hiring, promotion and working conditions. It requires equal pay for work of equal value. US Ambassador Susan Rice inked the pact, billed by the United Nations as the first human rights treaty of the 21st century.
World:
UN Officials Hail Groundbreaking Treaty on Disability Rights (April 4,
2008)
Jordan: No.18; Tunisia: No. 19; Ecuador: No. 20. That’s it! The first
international convention on the rights of persons with disabilities
reached the required 20 signatures on April 3, 2008, and will come into
force on May 3. This convention protects the rights of health, employment
and education for persons with disabilities. Some 106 additional States
have already taken the preliminary steps to sign on.
UN
Celebrates Disability Treaty (May 12, 2008)
The UN General Assembly met on May 12 to celebrate the Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This Convention took effect on May 3
and was part of a Global Action on Aging report. To date, 25 countries
have ratified the agreement. It remains vital that other countries sign,
take action on the Convention, and ensure that its terms are put into
effect.
Russia:
Russia to Join the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(June 4, 2008)
(Article in Russian)
Russia has finally announced it will soon sign the UN Convention on Rights
of Persons with Disabilities adopted in 2006. The Russian government will
be obliged to bring the law into compliance with international standards
to ensure equal rights for persons with disabilities. So far, 127
countries have joined and 24 countries have ratified the UN Convention,
marking a major milestone in promoting and ensuring the rights of people
with disabilities around the world.
GAA:
Highlights of the Discussion on Disabilities and Old Age (March 29, 2007)
On Thursday, March 29, 2007 (a day before the signing of the UN Convention
on Disabilities) Global Action on Aging put together a discussion about
disabilities and old age. The group included experts from the aging and
disability community who could address the overlapping concerns of older
persons and those who have lived with lifelong disabilities. The group
discussed a variety of topics, concentrating on crosscutting issues
between both communities. They also considered how older persons could use
the Convention on Disability to advance and strengthen aging concerns.
(Please click here for the UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities)
(Please click here for the Disability
Convention with markups of relevant aging/disability language – also
available in Spanish-
and French)
(Please click here for a PowerPoint
presentation of the photos from the discussion)
(Click here to learn about the Convention
process)
UN:
Personal Account of GAA Deaf Research Associate at the Adoption of the
Disability Convention (December 13, 2006)
Emmanuel Shwan, a Deaf Research Associate with Global Action on Aging,
attended the UN General Assembly Adoption of the Convention on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities on December 13, 2006. Shwan provides his
personal account of the challenges he faced in trying to obtain
appropriate accommodations, either a sign language interpreter or a
speech-to-text service. Despite the irony of facing barriers at the
Convention’s adoption, Shwan makes a valid argument for accessibility.
Shwan states, “…persons with disabilities have a lot to contribute to
society and societies in turn should welcome the contributions they can
make. In order to succeed with that goal, it is necessary to provide the
disabled with the necessary accommodations to enable their successful
integration into society.”
UN: Report Based on the
Meeting with Dr. Liisa Kauppinen, President Emerita of the World
Federation of the Deaf (December 2006)
Global Action on Aging’s Deaf Research Associate, Emmanuel Shwan,
interviewed Dr. Liisa Kauppinen, President Emerita of the World Federation
of the Deaf (WFD), which is the sole world body that serves the interest
of deaf people around the world. This report explains the WFD, its work,
the challenges it faced during the drafting process for the Convention on
the Rights of People with Disabilities, and how the WFD can work with GAA
on elderly deaf people around the world.
Eighth
session | Seventh session | Sixth
session | Fifth session | Fourth
session
Eighth session of
the Ad Hoc Committee (August 14 - 25, 2006)
UN
Agrees on Rights for Disabled (August 26, 2006)
Delegates at the United Nations concluded drafting the first ever
internationally binding UN Convention on the rights of persons with
disabilities. The convention that will go to the UN General Assembly in
September for adoption, would require countries to “guarantee freedom
from exploitation and abuse for the disabled” while safeguarding other,
already existing rights, such as the right to vote. The United States
announced that it will not sign on to the treaty. This article briefly
summarizes the main points of disagreement and opposition of some
countries, such as references to sexual and reproductive health and the
actual monitoring of the treaty.
NGOs
Meet with the German Commissioner for the Interests of the Disabled
(August 23, 2006)
Global Action on Aging, in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert
Foundation, set up a NGO meeting with Ms. Karin Evers-Meyer, German
Commissioner for the Interests of the Disabled. Ms. Evers-Meyer and her
delegation talked about Germany’s role in the UN’s drafting of a
proposed Disability Human Rights Convention. She also detailed the
situation of persons with disabilities in Germany. The
invitees--international NGO-UN representatives and disability rights
advocates-- raised questions and offered their insights about disability
rights on an international and local levels. Please click on the link to
access the meeting’s photo gallery.
The
Opening of the 8th Session (August 14, 2006)
GAA intern Evelyn Chow reports from the opening day of the eighth session
of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International
Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of
Persons with Disabilities. UN experts believe that the Committee will
finalize its work in this session and that the UN General Assembly will
pass a convention on the rights of persons with disabilities in September.
Seventh
session of the Ad Hoc Committee
(January 16 - February 3, 2006)
World:
Delegates at UN Meeting on Disability Rights See It as Major Step Forward
(January 31, 2006)
The result of the UN's 7th session of the Ad Hoc Committee for a
Comprehensive International Convention on the Rights of People with
Disabilities is very positive, say the delegates and participants at the
end of the three weeks long session. With intensive work, the Committee
seems to have taken a major step towards the achievement of the rights of
disabled people through this convention. Global Action on Aging noticed
that during the working sessions, delegates and disability advocates gave
special attention to the rights of older people with disabilities.
Sixth
session of the Ad Hoc Committee (August 1 - 12, 2005)
DPI’s
Panel Discussion on Women with Disabilities (August 2, 2005)
GAA intern Evelyn Chow details the major issues and concerns raised at the
sixth session of the Ad Hoc Committee’s Convention on the Protection and
Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities; which
she attended at the United Nations on
August 2, 2005
. She summarizes, in particular, the challenges faced by elderly women
with disabilities.
Fifth
session of the Ad Hoc Committee (January 24 - February 4, 2005)
Report on
the UN Disability Conference,
Charlotte Parkinson
, DSW (January 24 - February 4, 2005)
Charlotte Parkinson, DSW, reports on
the path-breaking UN Conference to draw up a text for consideration in the
UN General Assembly on Rights and Protection of Persons with Disabilities
throughout the world. Charlotte Parkinson, formerly directed a Mental
Retardation program Catholic Charities, and advises GAA on disability
issues as a volunteer. She monitored the Fifth Session of the Ad Hoc
Committee debating the content of the proposed Convention and presents her
summary of the discussions and issues that confronted the Country
Delegations to the Session.
Key
Articles in Draft Disability Treaty Approved at UN Meeting (February 6,
2005)
In a major step forward for persons with disabilities and humanity as a
whole, a United Nations negotiating panel, at the fifth session of the
"Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International
Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of
Persons with Disabilities," has reached agreement on key provisions
in a treaty codifying their rights.
Ending
Poverty Means Empowering the Disabled (February 3, 2005)
In the context of the Fifth Session of the Ad Hoc Committee,
U.N.
member states and disabled advocacy groups finalized a draft agreement on
Thursday, February 3, to defend basic rights such as independent living,
employment and equality, paving the way for the first-ever international
treaty guaranteeing the rights of the disabled.
Fourth session of the Ad Hoc Committee (August
23-September 3, 2004)
Report
of the Ad Hoc Committee on its fourth session (August
23 - September 3, 2004)
During its fourth session (23 August - 3 September 2004), the Ad Hoc
Committee concluded a first reading of the draft text of the convention as
contained in the report of the Working Group (A/AC.265/2004/WG.1) by
considering the title, the structure, part of the preamble, definitions
(article 3) and monitoring (article 25). The Committee also adopted the
organization of work proposed by the Chairman (see annexes II and III) and
conducted a review of articles 1 to 15 and 24 bis. The Committee decided
to further review the draft convention at its next sessions. On 25 August,
the Ad Hoc Committee had before it the report of the Coordinator on the
progress of informal discussions of draft articles 4, 5, 6 and 7 (see
annex IV).
Summary
of Discussions on Draft Articles by the Coordinator (August 23 - September
3, 2004)
GAA
posts this summary to inform readers about the open process of working
through the ideas and content of the proposed convention among Member
States. The delegates represent nations that differ along lines of
language, economic capacity, legal frameworks, attitudes toward persons
with disabilities, among other issues, but join in common and open
negotiating toward a goal.
Government Contributions by Article (August 23 - September 3, 2004)
Governments looked at 25 different articles or
issues facing persons with disability. Here you can find specific
government contributions to the debate on the Convention.
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