Persons with disabilities.

The Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, which is drafting an international convention, continued its work during its two-week session from 24 May to 4 June 2004 at UN Headquarters in New York.

"The goal of this convention is to provide a building block for the development of truly inclusive societies in which the voices of all are heard, including persons with disabilities", said Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the opening of the Committee's third session, in a message delivered by UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Jose Antonio Ocampo. The 25-article draft convention, which would move beyond the concept of equal access, covers issues such as: equality and non-discrimination; equal recognition as a person before the law; promotion of positive attitudes towards persons with disabilities, living independently and being included in the community; participation in political and public life; accessibility; personal mobility; right to health and rehabilitation; right to work, social security and adequate standard of living; participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport; and international cooperation.

The breakthrough treaty would create a legally binding framework for protecting and promoting the rights of persons with disabilities. Governments that ratify it would be legally bound to treat disabled persons as subjects of law with enforceable rights. The convention would have a monitoring body similar to other human rights treaties. The drafting of the treaty was proposed by Mexico to the General Assembly in 2001, reflecting the growing international recognition of disability rights as human rights. Contributions and comments on the draft were submitted by the Ontario Human Rights Commission and various non-governmental organizations, including the European Disability Forum, Inclusion International, Indian NGO Consultative Meeting, Landmine Survivors Network, Physical Disability Council of Australia, World Blind Union, World Federation of The Deaf and World Network of Users, and Survivors of Psychiatry.

Ad Hoc Committee Chairman Luis Gallegos Chiriboga of Ecuador said the convention covered more than 600 million people in the world. "You are either born with a disability or you acquire it in your life by accidents, by sickness or by war. But certainly when you are older, you will have some type of disability." Every country would use the convention differently and some would incorporate it into national legislation. He said that some countries had good national legislation, and for those that did not, it would be a good guide and would create a legal institutional structure. Even for those that did not sign it, the convention would be a guide on how the world was evolving as a society.

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In another briefing. Mr. Gallegos said that integrating disability concerns into a holistic convention on the rights of persons with disabilities would require a new approach that would include traditional human rights concerns, as well as incorporating new realms of concerns, ranging from the technological change in communications, biotechnology and genetics to war or conflicts, epidemics and poverty in a globalized world. Such new agendas would have a major impact on the lives of people with disabilities and on whole societies in the twenty-first century. He also said that where resources to deal with disabilities worldwide come from is not simply a governmental issue but a societal one, and would have to be obtained in cooperation with the developed world, including technology and the transposition of medical and clinical technologies.

The convention was important because it guided the process of change, particularly how persons with disabilities were viewed and integrated into society. The negotiations were unique in that they included the active participation of people with disabilities and their organizations. "It is extraordinary to see the efforts that they make and the way they conduct themselves in a session of this type in order to go beyond those disabilities", said Mr. Gallagos.

The Ad Hoc Committee's fourth session will take place from 23 August to 3 September 2004. The Chairman said he hoped to have the convention ready for signature on the occasion of the Millennium Summit review process in September 2005.