US Signs UN Disability Rights Convention

President Obama announced the US signing of the United Nation’s International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).  Susan Rice, US Ambassador to the UN, signed the treaty on July 30th at the United Nations as required under international legal arrangements. Upon signature, the U.S. must uphold the general purpose of the treaty, but is not legally bound under international law to any specific article until the Senate ratifies it by two-thirds majority vote. Read the President's related remarks at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-on-Rights-of-Persons-with-Disabilities-Proclamation-Signing/


US participation in the UN CRPD has been a long time coming, stalled for years under previous administrations. When ratified, the US will join numerous other nations who’ve signed and ratified the protocol. Here’s looking forward to the day the US is “in the red” on the map!

Dec. 3 International Day of Persons with Disabilities

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities, established by the United Nations, is December 3, 2008. This year’s themes are Dignity and Justice, and the "Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Dignity and Justice for All of Us". It is also the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

About 10% of the world’s population (650 million people) has disabilities. However, many people with disabilities still do not have rights equal recognition before the law and legal, freedom of expression and opinion, and the right to participate in political and public life. About 80% of the global population of people with disabilities, or about 400 million people live in poor countries where a significant link between poverty and disability exist.

The UN. Enable website says, “2008 is a significant year in the international human rights movement, given the entry into force on 3 May of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol, legally binding instruments which set out the legal obligations of States to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities”.

To find out which countries have ratified the Convention, and which have not, visit the UN website at: http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?navid=18&pid=257

Increasing Global Disability Rights

Kenya, Niger, Saudi Arabia, and China recently ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), joining a global community supporting legislative disability rights. The CRPD Convention was written in 2006. It supports individual autonomy, independence, non-discrimination and equal opportunities for people with disabilities.

CRPD ratification is an important first step toward a global climate of inclusion of people with disabilities. Many social and environmental challenges remain. UN organizers are now planning for International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December 2008, which will focus on the CRPD Convention.

Sources and Resources:
http://www.un.org/disabilities/
http://www.paralympic.org/release/Main_Sections_Menu/News/Current_Affairs/2008_07_01_a.html