From invisibility to inclusion – UN experts on the right to persons with disabilities urge for full support of international Convention

International Day of Persons with Disabilities - Wednesday 3 December 2014

GENEVA (3 December 2014) – A group of international experts on the rights of persons with disabilities today called on all Governments around the world to work towards universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and its Optional Protocol.

“Since 2006, the Convention has witnessed an impressive number of ratifications in a short period of time,” noted in a joint statement* Catalina Devandas, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities; María Soledad Cisternas Reyes, who currently chairs the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; and Lenín Moreno, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General on Disability and Accessibility.

Out of 193 United Nations Member States, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has so far been ratified by 150 States and the European Union (see links to map on ratifications below).

“This is clear evidence of the importance that States attach to filling the protection gap that previously rendered persons with disabilities invisible in human rights efforts,” the experts stressed on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

“Ratification is an important first step; it is a commitment towards implementation,” they said, while calling “on all stakeholders – Member States, the Human Rights Council, UN agencies, national human rights institutions, organizations of persons with disabilities and broader civil society – to work towards universal ratification of the CRPD and its Optional Protocol.”

(*) Check the full joint statement: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=15372&LangID=E 

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/ConventionRightsPersonsWithDisabilities.aspx
Check the map on ratifications of the Convention: http://indicators.ohchr.org/maps/OHCHR_Map_CRPD.pdf

The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/OptionalProtocolRightsPersonsWithDisabilities.aspx 
Check the map on ratifications of the Optional Protocol: http://indicators.ohchr.org/maps/OHCHR_Map_CRPD-OP.pdf

Learn more about the mandate and activities of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, log on to:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Disability/SRDisabilities/Pages/SRDisabilitiesIndex.aspx
For further information and media requests, please contact Ms. Krista Orama (+41 22 928 9286 / korama@ohchr.org) or write to sr.disability@ohchr.org

Learn more about the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, visit: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/CRPDIndex.aspx
For further information and media requests, please contact Ms. Harumi Fuentes Furuya (+41 22 917 9699 / hfuentes@ohchr.org) or write to crpd@ohchr.org

Learn more about the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Disability and Accessibility, please contact: se.disability@unog.ch

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