UNA-UK welcomes the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) - the first major human rights treaty of this century.
Disabled people are the world's largest minority. Around 10% of the global population - some 650 million people - live with a disability, the vast majority in developing countries. In these countries, disability is often closely linked to poverty, lack of education and access to treatment for preventable diseases. But all over the world, disabled people face barriers to employment, education and full participation in all aspects of life, and suffer discrimination and harrassment. According to the UN, only 45 countries have disability-specific laws in place.
When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948, Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the architects of the Declaration, said that human rights begin 'in small places, close to home'. This is true of all rights but particularly disability rights. All of us share a responsibility to ensure that our homes, offices, policies, services, products and minds are as inclusive as possible.
The Convention builds on decades of work, by the UN and campaigners, to change attitudes and approaches to disabled people. One of the fastest rights treaties to be adopted, we hope that it will serve as a guide to policy-makers and raise standards around the world.
It will open for signature in March 2007, alongside its optional protocol, which will provide a mechanism for individual complaints and communications. 20 ratifications are necessary for it to enter into force.
The UK played a leading role in the adoption of the Convention and we hope that it will now move swiftly towards ratifying it.
