While the Convention does not create new rights, it does define with greater clarity the application of existing rights to the specific situation of persons with disabilities.
For example, some appropriate measures to ensure freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information are:
An adequate standard of living and social protection require, among other things:
The Convention also includes a series of obligations on States in relation to a range of issues which are necessary for the full enjoyment of human rights. These are:
Measure | Explanation |
Awareness-raising (art. 8) | Awareness-raising involves both increasing understanding of disability rights as well as combating stereotypes through public campaigns, education, encouraging responsible media reporting and training. |
Accessibility (art. 9) | To enable independent living, accessibility is important in relation to the physical environment, transport, information and communications, and other facilities and services open or provided to the public. |
Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies (art. 11) | In recognition of the particular vulnerabilities of persons with disabilities during situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies, States undertake to ensure their protection and safety. |
Access to justice (art. 13) | A fundamental part of ensuring the enjoyment of rights is access to justice to enjoy the right to a remedy. This requires accommodations in the legal system as well as training for legal professionals. |
Personal mobility (art. 20) | Personal mobility promotes independence and States can foster this by facilitating access to mobility aids and assistive technologies, providing training to specialist staff, encouraging producers of mobility devices to take into account the needs of persons with disabilities and so on. |
Habilitation and rehabilitation (art. 26) | Again, to attain maximum independence, States undertake to strengthen and extend comprehensive habilitation and rehabilitation services, which go beyond health services and include employment, education and social services. |
Statistics and data collection (art. 31) | In order to help formulate and implement policies for the implementation of the Convention, States should collect disaggregated information in a way that respects human rights and ethical standards of data collection and analysis. |
International cooperation (art. 32) | The Convention recognizes that most States will benefit from international cooperation to meet their commitments. For instance by ensuring that development cooperation is inclusive and accessible, (art. 32) through information exchange and training, through research and technology transfer, and technical and economic assistance. |
These measures focus on actions that States must take to ensure an environment conducive to the fulfilment of specific rights of persons with disabilities.