The representative organisation of persons with disabilities in Europe
Logo : European disability Forum


FIRST COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON DISABILITY RIGHTS CONVENTION ELECTED
 
The first Conference of States Parties on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), taking place at the UN headquarters  in New York, elected the new Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 3 November.
 
The Committee will be in charge of monitoring the implementation of the CRPD. It comprises seven men and five women, of which nine are persons with disabilities. The twelve Committee members elected are:

Monsur Ahmed Choudhuri (Bangladesh) (4-year term)

Amna Ali Al Suweidi (Qatar) (4-year term)

György Könczei (Hungary) (2-year term)

Ana Peláez Narváez (Spain) (4-year term)

Cveto Ursic (Slovenia) (2-year term)

Jia Yang (China) (4-year term)

Mohamed Al-Tarawneh (Jordan) (4-year term)

Ron McCallum (Australia) (2-year term)

Maria Soledad Cisternas Reyes (Chile) (4-year term)

Germán Xavier Torres Correa (Ecuador) (2-year term)

Lotfi Ben Lallohom (Tunisia) (2-year term)

Edah Wangechi Maina (Kenya) (2-year term)

By drawing lots, six Committee members listed above will serve for a two-year mandate, while the other six members have a four-year mandate.

“We congratulate the members of the Committee for their election and look forward to very close interaction with the Committee. We encourage all Committee members to support Rules of Procedure for the new Committee that will ensure meaningful participation from representative organisations of persons with disabilities (DPOs) in all stages of their work. The Committee should consider the IDA CRPD Forum not only as the network that represents the key stakeholders of the CRPD, but also as a source of expertise”, said William Rowland, Chair of the International Disability Alliance CRPD Forum.

The Committee will hold its first one-week meeting in Geneva in February 2009. The Conference of States Parties decided to hold its next meet in 2009, which confirms the substantive nature of the Conference.
 
European Disability Forum has been represented at the Conference by its President Yannis Vardakastanis and Director Carlotta Besozzi.
 
For more information on the IDA CRPD Forum, please visit IDA's website or send an email to: idacrpdforum@yahoo.com.
 
The IDA CRPD Forum is the network of international and regional organisations of persons with disabilities, which has been established to promote the swift and proper ratification and implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and its Optional Protocol.
 
 


« BACK