What is the Convention?

The  UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities is a legally binding international Human Rights treaty which becomes part of the United Nations Human Rights machinery. It is the first Convention that has been adopted in this century and the first to be signed in the past 16 years. Those countries that have and will ratify this Convention commit themselves internationally to implement the provisions of this legal text.

 

The Convention entered into force in May 2008 and is the first international human rights instrument which was ratifed by the European Communities on 29 November 2009.

Why was a new Convention needed?

In theory, all existing Human Rights Conventions cover persons with disabilities, but the reality is often different. The Convention does not create new rights for disabled people. Its aim is to include all those actions that each country needs to do in order to ensure that people with disabilities can enjoy their rights, on an equal basis with all others.

What is the impact?

The adoption of this Convention puts persons with disabilities fully on the Human Rights agenda. The adoption of the Convention embodies the paradigm shift from charity to rights, from a medical model to a social/Human Rights model. Disabled people are no longer considered as victims or patients, they are persons with rights and a full role to play in society.

The Convention means a revision of all existing legislation, policies and programmes to ensure that they are in compliance with its provisions. It will also mean new legislation in many areas.

The Convention binds its States Parties to a revision of all existing legislation, policies and programs to ensure they are in compliance with its provisions. Concretely, it will mean actions in many areas such as access to education, employment, transport, infrastructures and buildings open to the public, granting right to vote and political participation, ensuring full legal capacity of all persons with disabilities, and a shift from institutions where persons with disabilities live separated from society into community and home-based services promoting independent living.

All the institutions of the European Union will now have to endorse the values of the Convention in all policies under their competence: from transport to employment and from information and communication technologies to development cooperation. It also means that they have to adjust the accessibility of their own buildings, their own employment and communications policy.

What happens if a State does not comply?

The States that have ratified the Convention will need to inform periodically the Committee of independent experts about the measures taken to implement the Convention. The Committee will be responsible for highlighting the shortcomings in the implementation of the Convention by a State and will produce recommendations, which are of political relevance.

What is the Optional Protocol for?

Together with the Convention, an Optional Protocol has been adopted, which requires to be ratified separately.

 

The signatory countries ratifying the optional protocol accept the possibility that national citizens submit individual complaints to the Committee of independent experts, if the Convention is violated and once all legal procedures have been exhausted at national level. They also agree on the principle that the Committee initiates inquiry procedures regarding Human Rights violations.

 

EDF welcomes the ratification of the Convention by the European Communities on 29 November 2009 but regrets the delay in the ratification of the Optional Protocol. This delay means that the UN Committee may not yet initiate the inquiry procedure into disabled persons’ rights violations in Europe.

 

EDF wants to make sure the next EU presidencies in 2010 (Spain and Belgium) will work on the conclusion of the Optional Protocol.

What is the role of disabled people’s organisations in this process?

The role of disabled people’s organisations in this process has been vital in the negotiation process and will continue to be so in during the process of implementation. National disability organisations need to be part of all the actions that lead to the implementation of the Convention. Both national and international disability organisations will also play a crucial role in monitoring the implemention of the Convention and influencing the work of the Committee of experts.

The EU Institutions have now to work on the implementation and to ensure that a strong independent mechanism for monitoring implementation is established: implementing and monitoring mechanism must be free from all undue pressure.

 

EDF will ensure the next EU presidencies in 2010 (Spain and Belgium) will work on the conclusion of the Optional Protocol.

 

The EU and the civil society are exploring a new ground on international law and human rights: over their consultation, the involvement of Disabled Persons Organisations with a right to influence the process is extremely important for the success of this first human rights treaty.

• EDF Press Release on the ratification of the UN Convention by the European Communities
• EDF Power Point Show on the Convention (Powerpoint)
• EDF Guidance document on the UN Convention (PDF)
• UN Convention - EDF / EFC Seminar on Article 33 on the implementing and monitoring mechanisms
• UN Convention - EDF / EFC Seminar on Article 12 on equal recognition before the law of persons with disabilities
• More about the Convention on the United Nations website