Disability rights: UN committee to review Haiti, Nepal, Oman, Russian Federation, Seychelles, Slovenia, Sudan

GENEVA (7 February 2018) – The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will meet in Geneva from 14 February to 9 March 2018 to review the following countries: Haiti, Nepal, Oman, Russian Federation, Seychelles, Slovenia, Sudan.

The above are among the 175 States that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and so are required to submit regular reports to the Committee, which is composed of 18 international independent experts.

During the meetings in Geneva, Committee members will hold dialogues with the respective State delegations. They will also hear from organisations representing persons with disabilities, NGOs and national human rights institutions.

The sessions will be held at Room XVII, Palais des Nations, in Geneva, on the following dates: Haiti (15-16 February), Nepal (19-20 February), Oman (20-21 February), Sudan (21-22 February), Slovenia (22-23 February), Seychelles (26-27 February), Russian Federation (27-28 February).

Time: Each dialogue runs from 15:00 to 18:00 Geneva time and continues the following day from 10:00 to 13:00. The public sessions will be webcast at http://webtv.un.org/

The issues likely to be discussed, the States’ reports, plus information from civil society organisations can be found here. The Committee will publish its findings on the respective countries, known officially as concluding observations, here on 12 March 2018.

ENDS

For more information and media requests please contact: Julia Gronnevet (+41 22 917 9310) jgronnevet@ohchr.org

For media accreditation, please see here.

Background

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a human rights treaty negotiated by representatives of the international community - including persons with disabilities, government officials, representatives of nongovernmental organizations and others – designed to change the way persons with disabilities are viewed and treated in their societies.

Rather than considering disability as an issue of medicine, charity or dependency, the Convention challenges people worldwide to understand disability as a human rights issue. The Convention covers many areas where obstacles can arise, such as physical access to buildings, roads and transportation, and access to information through written and electronic communications. The Convention also aims to reduce stigma and discrimination, which are often reasons why persons with disabilities are excluded from education, employment and health and other services.

The Committee is the international monitoring body that oversees the implementation of the Convention by those States that have ratified it and has a mandate to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities.

More information on the CRPD, please see here.

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