| Programme : Presentation on Day
1 Text version of a PowerPoint Presentation:
Towards the
Elaboration of an International Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities:
Overview of development towards the proposed convention,
implications for building national capacities for equalization of
opportunities and previous ESCAP efforts towards the Convention
Presented by Kay Nagata
Disability Focal Point
UN ESCAP
Slide 1
UN ESCAP / APDF Workshop on Regional Follow-up to the Third and
Fourth Sessions of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral
International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and
Dignity of Persons with Disabilities
Bangkok, Thailand, 11-12 October 2004
Follow-up to the 3rd session
Kay Nagata
Disability Focal Point
UN ESCAP
2
When the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted in 1982 the
World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons with the
goals of “full participation” of disabled persons in social life and
development and “equality” it provided the international community with a
comprehensive framework for advancement of persons with disabilities in the
context of development.
3
Equality is a fundamental concern of the World Programme and is
reflected in its “equalization of opportunities” objective. Equality
is defined in the World Programme with reference to parity with
opportunities available to the entire population.
4
The report of the Stockholm expert meeting in 1987 recommended that the
“General Assembly … draft an international convention on the elimination of
all forms of discrimination against disabled persons, to be ratified by
States by the end of the Decade [in 1992].”
5
The ECOSOC authorized the Commission, in Council resolution 1990/26
of 24 May 1990, to initiate work related to elaboration of non-binding
standard Rules on equalization of opportunities for persons with
disabilities. Council resolution 1991/9 of 30 May 1991 welcomed the
initiative of the Commission for Social Development to elaborate “standard
technical Rules on the equalization of opportunities for disabled persons.”
6
These efforts resulted in the decision of the General Assembly to adopt
by resolution 48/96 of 20 December 1993 the “Standard Rules on the
Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities”.
7
The 22 Rules provide normative guidance in policy-making and for
technical and economic cooperation; the Rules are in four chapters: (a)
preconditions for equal participation, (b) target areas for equal
participation, (c) implementation measures, and (d) monitoring mechanism.
The “monitoring mechanism” is one of the most innovative aspects of the
non-binding Standard Rules.
8
Mr. Lindqvist submitted three monitoring reports during his
service as Special Rapporteur for the period 1994-2002, whose findings and
recommendations have implications for the elaboration of a convention.
The Special Rapporteur remarked on the need for the human rights
perspective to be more developed in the context of the Rules and for
greater attention to be directed to issues related to children with
disabilities, gender, shelter and housing.
9
Twin Track Approach
With regard to further development of human rights and persons with
disabilities, the Special Rapporteur noted that the process of
elaborating an international convention on the rights of persons with
disabilities may take several years and that it is important to use the
momentum to develop the disability dimension within existing United
Nations human rights monitoring systems. The Special Rapporteur
recommended a “twin track” approach to further development of human
rights and persons with disabilities.
10
During the General Debate of the fifty-sixth session of the General
Assembly (2001) Mr. Vicente Fox Quesada, President of Mexico, presented
the proposal to initiate elaboration of a comprehensive and integral
convention on the rights of persons with disabilities.
President Fox presented this proposal in the context of a call to the
international community to combat poverty and social exclusion (Maxico
draft)
11
The first session of the Ad Hoc Committee established by General
Assembly resolution 56/168 had for its consideration both the “Elements”
paper presented at the Mexico expert meeting and “Position papers” on the
convention submitted by China and by the European Union.
12
Expert Group Meeting and Seminar on an International Convention to
Protect and Promote the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities
Bangkok, Thailand, 2-4 June 2003
Outcome: Bangkok Recommendations, submitted to the Second Session
of Ad-Hoc Committee on the Convention, held in NY, 16-27 2003 by UN ESCAP.
Base for the Bangkok Draft (full text version of ESCAP workshop
outcome document, October 2004)
13
By the 2nd session of the Ad Hoc Committee, a working group
to prepare the draft text of Convention was adopted.
There are a lot of challenges and long term steps ahead of us.
14
Bangkok Draft (outcome of the ESCAP workshop on the Convention, October
20003 (full text version of the draft convention)
- Preamble
- Statement of objectives and general principles
- Scope/Definitions (including definitions of disability and
discrimination)
- General obligations of States Parties to respect and ensure the rights
guaranteed in the Convention
- Guarantee of equality and non-discrimination (statement of gender
equality)
- Guarantees of specific rights
- Other State obligations
- Monitoring mechanisms
- Miscellaneous provisions
15
The Working Group Session, January 2004, at NY
-
To elaborate the draft
Convention text;
-
Working Group members:
27 Gov. (including China, India, Japan, Lebanon, ROK, Thailand,
Philippines + NZ) with the chair from NZ, 12 NGOs, and 1 national human
rights commission at the global level;
-
Chairman’s draft = the
Bangkok Draft;
-
Current Draft
Convention Draft (including the Group’s revisions on the Chair’s Draft);
-
Submitted to the 3rd
Session of Ad Hoc Committee (24 May to 4 June 2004)
16
Critical points of the 3rd session
-
Nothing about us
without us;
-
Progressive realization
of socio-economic rights;
-
Social model against
medical model;
-
Elimination of state
parties obligations in relation to remedies (unlike the Bangkok Draft:
-
Disability Data
collection
-
EU (non-discrimination)
vs comprehensive model;
-
Definition of
reasonable accommodation;
-
RI: need for a separate
article about rehabilitation;
-
Right to choose
inclusive education, with alternative education option available (for the
deaf, the blind, etc.);
-
International
cooperation;
-
New rights, such as
accessibility rights, reasonable accommodation.
17
Reasonable accommodation
-
New concept not
existing in any convention;
-
How to use this concept
in remedies:
-
Excessive burden to
employers;
-
Reasonable
accommodation vs more traditional affirmative action (such as employment
quota, tax concession);
-
ADA definition;
-
In each country’s
context (different political system, democracy, transitional, less
democracy, etc.)?
18
3rd Session of the Ad Hoc Committee
-
The report of the
Working Group (draft text, 24 articles) --- first reading;
-
Proposed modifications
on the draft text by Governments;
-
Daily update on
negotiations prepared by LSN (including comments by NGOs);
-
The title, structure,
preamble, definitions and monitoring will be deferred to the discussions
in the 4th session (to be held August-September 2004).
19
Future strategy:
- Dialogue between NGO communities and the government;
- Civil Society Lobbing:
- Closed informal consultations in the Ad Hoc Committee;
- In each country’s context.
20
Each country context
- Lobbying with the Government if possible in a given country (country
A, country B)?;
- Implementation and realization of civil political, and socio-economic
rights:
- Disability Discrimination Ordinance (No. 86 of 1995) --- good practice
of rights-based legislative in the region, together with Disability
Discrimination Act (1992) of Australia and Magna Carta for Disabled
Persons (Republic Act. No 7277) of the Philippines. Is regional
replication and exchange of good practice possible?
21
Thank You
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