PHA-Exchange> UN adopts disability convention

[claudio at hcmc.netnam.vn]

from Vern Weitzel <vern at coombs.anu.edu.au> -----
    
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/6173073.stm

UN adopts disability convention

By Geoff Adams-Spink

Delegates discussing the draft convention at the UN in New York
The treaty was agreed at the UN in August
The United Nations General Assembly has unanimously adopted a treaty on the 
rights of disabled people.

The text of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was 
agreed by a UN committee 
in August.

Countries that ratify it will have to introduce laws ensuring that disabled 
people are treated fairly.

The treaty will enter into force once it has been ratified by 20 countries. It 
is thought that the 
world's disabled population is 650m.

It will now be up to the 192 member states of the UN to ratify it and to begin 
putting it into practice.

The treaty will be signed by the European Union as a legal entity - a first in 
the field of human 
rights.

Fastest legislation?

The convention is the most rapidly negotiated human rights treaty in the 
history of international 
law - as well as the first such treaty in the 21st Century, said UN Deputy 
Secretary General Mark 
Malloch Brown.

"Too often, those living with disabilities have been seen as objects of 
embarrassment, and at best, 
of condescending pity and charity," Mr Malloch Brown said.

"On paper they have enjoyed the same rights as others. In real life, they have 
often been relegated 
to the margins and denied the opportunities that others take for granted."

The convention sets out in detail the rights of disabled people. It covers 
civil and political 
rights, accessibility, participation and inclusion, education, health, 
employment and social protection.

The treaty also recognises that attitudes need to change if disabled people 
are to achieve equality.

Countries that adopt the treaty will have to get rid of laws, customs and 
practices that 
discriminate against disabled people.

An optional protocol to the treaty will give groups and individuals the right 
to petition the 
Committee on Rights of Persons with Disabilities once they have exhausted all 
avenues within their 
own country.

A committee of independent experts will receive reports from states that have 
ratified the 
convention on the progress made in meeting their obligations.

The convention will be opened for signature and ratification in March 2007.



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