The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol in 2006 as a means of improving respect for the rights of persons with disabilities, who, according to the latest figures, comprise some 15 per cent of the world's population. Since 2006, ratification of the Convention and Optional Protocol has proceeded at a rapid pace. However, knowledge about the Convention and how to implement and monitor it has not necessarily kept up. This in turn has led to an increase in requests for training courses to build capacities of national stakeholders—representatives of Government, civil society, national human rights institutions (NHRIs) and others.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has developed this Training Guide in response. It seeks to provide basic information on a rights-based approach to disability, on the fundamental elements of the Convention and its Optional Protocol, and on the processes and issues underlying their ratification, implementation and monitoring. Consequently, the materials are particularly appropriate for introductory courses on the Convention.
The materials were first prepared in 2010 and revised over 2011. In August 2011, OHCHR held a validation course comprising participants from United Nations human rights presences, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and representatives of the International Disability Alliance. On this basis, the Guide was finalized and published.