Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: 5 quick facts

This landmark legally binding treaty entered into force on 3 May 2008, marking an important milestone in the effort to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights for all people.

Ahead of the 17th Conference of the States Parties (COSP17) starting on 11 June, here are five fast facts about the Convention and how it continues to impact the lives of 1.3 billion men , women and children with disabilities around the world:

1. Why the world needs the Convention

People with disabilities face discrimination and are denied human rights around the world. Social barriers are the problem, not personal weakness.

That is why the Convention exists.

The Convention is a human rights treaty that sets out how to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities around the world.

The goal is to create an enabling environment so that people with disabilities can enjoy true equality in society.

2. Right to be protected

The Convention emphasizes that people with disabilities must have their dignity respected, their voices heard and be included in making decisions that affect their lives. That includes all rights, from freedom of speech and education to health care and employment.

The treaty requires countries to remove obstacles that prevent people with disabilities from fully participating in all fields, from technology to politics.

It addresses those barriers, including discrimination and access, and calls for equality for women and girls. In addition, the treaty outlines ways in which countries around the world can remove barriers that prevent people with disabilities from fully enjoying all of their rights.

3. How the treaty is implemented

There are a number of ways for the Convention to be enforced, respected and implemented.

Individuals can present a petition to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to report violations of their rights.

“The mere existence of the Convention gives people with disabilities and their organizations the ability to say to their governments ‘you have accepted these obligations’ and to insist that those obligations be met. response.” said Don MacKay, chairman of the treaty drafting committee.

The 18-member Geneva-based Committee can also conduct investigations into serious or systematic violations of the Convention and monitor whether rights are being properly applied, online and offline in peacetime, war and other crises or not.

4. A seat at the table

The key to progress is bringing those whose rights are affected to the negotiating table.

This year, hundreds of delegates from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) will travel to New York to participate in the latest Conference of Member States, COSP17, to be held in June 2024, one of the the largest global meeting on disability rights.

Since the time the treaty was negotiated, the views and input of people with disabilities have been heard at meetings at the United Nations and in countries around the world.

The larger desk at the United Nations Headquarters now meets accessibility requirements, including wheelchair accessibility, use of hearing aids, documents in Braille, large print or the use of use sign language.

5. In the spotlight

Global celebrities such as singer-songwriter and United Nations Messenger of Peace Stevie Wonder, who is blind, have also added their voices.

“Just because someone is visible doesn’t mean they should be blind to the things in the world that we need to fix,” Mr. Wonder speaknote that there are 300 million visually impaired people worldwide.

“We are truly capable people with different abilities. We have to be inclusive.”

Watch the United Nations video Stories from the United Nations Archives on how musical symbols challenge assumptions about Braille: This.

“I think there are certain stereotypes that we hear about autism, and I learned very quickly through meeting people who have been parents of children with autism or meeting people with autism that Those stereotypes don’t really exist,” the actor said. Dakota Fanning tells UN News in conversation about her role as Wendy, who has autism, in the film Please wait.

“So I felt that I didn’t want to perpetuate stereotypes and I wanted to really portray her like I would portray any other young woman,” she said.

“I have lived with discrimination my entire life,” said Canadian activist, actor and talk show host Nick Herd, who was born with Down syndrome.

“When I was little and growing up, I was bullied because of my disability, but now I can use that voice, from when I was a kid, to be heard louder and louder. I can shout it from the roof of a building or from a mountain, louder than the United Nations so that people with disabilities can be included at the negotiating table.”

“During war, people with disabilities are often victimized, denied equality in humanitarian assistance and excluded from peace processes,” speak Renowned photographer Giles Duley, the United Nations’ first Global Advocate for People with Disabilities in Conflict and Peacebuilding Situations.

“It is time for change and if we work together, we have the power and opportunity to make that change.”