Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities holds ninth session from 15 to 19 April

BACKGROUND RELEASE

11 April 2013

Committee to Consider the Initial Report of Paraguay

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will hold its ninth session from 15 to 19 April at the Palais Wilson in Geneva, during which the Committee will consider the initial report of Paraguay on how that State party implements the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

On Monday, 15 April, in the morning, a representative of the Secretary-General will open the meeting and will conduct the election of Chairperson and officers of the Committee. The Committee will then hear a report of the Chairperson on activities undertaken between the eighth and ninth sessions of the Committee and will adopt of its agenda and programme of work. This will be followed by a meeting on cooperation with other United Nations bodies, specialized agencies, disabled persons’ organizations and other competent bodies.

In the afternoon, the Committee will begin its consideration of the initial report of Paraguay. The review will last for two meetings, concluding on Tuesday 16 April at 1 p.m. The Committee will issue its concluding observations and recommendations on the report at the end of the session on Friday 19 April. On Wednesday, 17 April, at noon, the Committee will hold a general discussion on women and girls with disabilities.

In private, the Committee will also adopt lists of issues on the reports of Austria, Australia and El Salvador, that will be examined in future sessions. The Committee will also consider complaints submitted under the Optional Protocol to the Convention and its methods of work.

According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, States parties are required to submit their initial reports to the Committee two years after the entry into force of the Convention for them. The Convention has been signed by 155 States and ratified by 128 States and 1 regional organization, while 76 countries have ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention. Currently, there are 39 initial reports awaiting review by the Committee.

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Adopted on 13 December 2006 by the General Assembly, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Protocol entered into force on 3 May 2008.

The purpose of the Convention is to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity. Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.

States parties undertake to ensure and promote the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all persons with disabilities without discrimination of any kind on the basis of disability. States Parties recognize that all persons are equal before and under the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law. Specific measures which are necessary to accelerate or achieve de facto equality of persons with disabilities shall not be considered discrimination under the terms of the present Convention.

States parties reaffirm that every human being has the inherent right to life and have committed themselves to take all necessary measures to ensure its effective enjoyment by persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others. States Parties reaffirm that persons with disabilities have the right to recognition everywhere as persons before the law. States Parties recognize that persons with disabilities enjoy legal capacity on an equal basis with others in all aspects of life.

Each State party is obliged to submit to the Committee, through the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, a comprehensive report on measures taken to give effect to its obligations under the present Convention and on the progress made in that regard, within two years after the entry into force of the present Convention for the State Party concerned. Thereafter, States parties shall submit subsequent reports at least every four years and further whenever the Committee so requests.

States Parties to the Convention

At present there are 1287 States and 1 regional organization which have ratified this instrument. They are: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, elgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, China, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, European Union, France, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Yemen, Zambia

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the first human rights convention to provide for ratification by regional integration organizations, such as the European Union. The European Union ratified the Convention in December 2010.


Committee Membership

The members of the Committee are elected for a term of four years and shall be eligible for re-election once.

Mr. Mohammed Al-Tarawneh (Jordan), Mr. Martin Mwesigwa Babu (Uganda), Mr. Munthian Buntan (Thailand), Ms. Maria Soledad Cisteras Reyes (Chile), Ms. Theresia DEGENER (Germany), Mr. Hyung Shik Kim (Republic of Korea), Mr. Lofti Ben Lallahom (Tunisia), Mr. Stig Langvad (Denmark), Mr. Lászó Gábor László (Hungary), Ms. Edah Wangechi Maina (Kenya), Mr. Ronald McCallum (Australia), Ms. Diane Mulligan (United Kingdom), Ms. Safak Pavey (Turkey), Ms. Ana Pelaez Narvaez (Spain), Ms. Silvia Judith Quan-Chang (Guatemala), Mr. Carlos Rios Espinosa (Mexico), Mr. Damjan Tatic (Serbia), and Mr. Germán Xavier Torres Correa (Ecuador).

Further information is available on the Committee’s webpage.


Programme of Work

Monday, 15 April

10 a.m. Opening of the session

3 p.m. Consideration of initial report of Paraguay
CRPD/C/PRY/Q/1 and CRPD/C/PRY/Q/1/Add.1


Tuesday, 16 April

10 a.m. Paraguay (continued)


Wednesday, 17 April

12 p.m. Half a day of general discussion on women and girls with disabilities

3 p.m. General discussion (continued)


Friday, 19 April

5.30 p.m. Closing of session

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