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BEIRUT DECLARATION

THE DRAFT INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON DISABILITY

We the representatives of the Arab Governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), meeting in Beirut from 27 to 29 May 2003 at the Arab Regional Conference on Norms and Standards Related to Development and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and gathered here today to exchange views and address a unified Arab position on the draft comprehensive and integral international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities,

Taking the opportunity offered by the Conference,

Declare that disabled persons, particularly in the Arab countries, face major challenges, which prevent them from assuming normal roles on an equal footing with other citizens in their societies and state that the primary factors that give rise to discrimination, marginalization and which affect the right to development are based on structural, institutional, legislative, procedural and cultural obstacles.

Drawing attention to the fact that number of difficulties continue to escalate within world societies and more specifically within Arab societies, including, continuous wars, increasing poverty, economic regression, absence of laws and legislation and lack of public awareness concerning the issue and causes of disability,

Taking note of The Arab Human Development Report 2002: Creating Opportunities for Future Generations, which examines the deterioration of certain aspects of life in the Arab countries, particularly in the areas of knowledge, freedom, economic growth and the empowerment of women, thereby having a direct and negative impact on persons with disabilities, in the domain of employment, health and social security and which denies the fundamental human right to development and social security,

Noting also that the United Nations has published a series of documents and resolutions based on rights and equality, and has carried out a number of activities aimed at alleviating discrimination, including the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons 1983-1992, the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons and the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities,

Noting further that despite these efforts and related initiatives, recommended measures have not been implemented, which entails a responsibility to ensure that future endeavours are more binding and intrinsically linked to supportive policies that enable the concerned parties to achieve their objectives,

Acknowledging that much progress has been made to highlight the issue of disability at the Arab and international levels, including in particular, the recognition of disability as an aspect of human rights,

Appreciating the role of disabled persons in addressing their cause and the increase in societal support for this issue, which has resulted in the launching of the Arab Decade of Disabled Persons, 2003-2012 and the issuing of the Arab Document, by the General Assembly Meeting of Rehabilitation International for the Arab Region, the Interlocutory Session on the Rights of People with Disabilities in the Arab World and the International Conference on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Manama, 8-9 March 2002),

Noting that the Ad Hoc Committee is designated to consider the proposals related to a comprehensive and integral international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities,

1. Call upon all Arab States, while endeavouring to secure every possible support for this convention, to support the draft international convention on disability and to actively participate in its development at the national, regional and international levels, in order to put it into effect;

2. Realize the importance of all parties concerned, including disabled persons, in the formulation of the convention, which will also cover issues related to mental disability, disabled women, disabled children, and the disabled elderly;

3. Desirous of ensuring the support of the convention, request the provision of technical and financial assistance to the developing countries, in order to secure its implementation;

4. Endeavour to secure the instruments of execution and of effective monitoring with the aim of attaining full implementation of the convention;

5. Request that follow-up actions to support the convention at the Arab regional level are undertaken and that the newly elected Special Rapporteur on disability of the Commission for Social Development for the period 2003-2005, Sheikha Hessa bint Khalifa bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar, is designated to assume a leading role in such actions.

Beirut, 29 May 2003

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	Arab Regional Meeting on Norms and Standards Related to Development and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Beirut, Republic of Lebanon, 27-29 May 2003