Serbia’s record on rights of persons with disabilities faces review by UN Committee

GENEVA (31 March 2016) – The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) will review Serbia on 5 and 6 April in sessions that will be webcast live. Serbia is one of the 162 States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and so is required to submit regular reports to the Committee on how it is implementing the Convention. 

The CRPD, which is composed of 18 international independent experts, will engage in a dialogue with the country government delegation and also hear from disabled persons organisations (DPOs), NGOs and other organisations representing disabled persons.

Venue: Palais Wilson, Geneva
Time: 15:00 – 18:00 on 5 April and 10:00 – 13:00 on 6 April.
The sessions will be webcast here: http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/

More information about Serbia and the other countries being reviewed – Thailand, Chile, Slovakia, Portugal, Lithuania and Uganda – here: 
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1050&Lang=en The Committee’s concluding observations on these States will also be published here on 21 April. 

10 years of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

This year is the 10th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 13 December 2006 and came into force on 3 May 2008. To mark the anniversary, the CRPD will hold an event on 19 April in Room XIX at the Palais des Nations from 10:00-11:00 to call for universal ratification of the Convention and for the sustainable development goals to be implemented in relation to people with disabilities.

Right to independent living

From 11:00-1800 on 19 April, also in Room XIX, the Committee will hold a day of general discussion on Article 19: the right of persons with disabilities to independent living and inclusion in the community.

ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact Liz Throssell – 41 22 917 9466 / 41 79 752 0488 / ethrosell@ohchr.org

CRPD is composed of 18 independent human rights experts drawn from around the world. They serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties. The Committee’s concluding observations are an independent assessment of States’ compliance with their human rights obligations under the treaty. More information on the CRPD:
http://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/crpd

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