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31 July 2009 /// President Obama keeps his electoral promises: he has just signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Another step forward for the first Human Rights Treaty adopted in almost 20 years and a great signal for its ratification by all countries around the world.

Yesterday July 30^th, the United States signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). This signature represents a policy shift toward enforcing Human Rights obligations putting disability on top of the agenda: this is the first Convention adopted by the United Nations (UN) in 20 years, and. The US has only ratified 3 Conventions in its whole history (the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination) and is traditionally reticent to be bound by International Treaties: President Obama is breaking with tradition: he is signing and seeking Senate ratification of a major Human Rights treaty. "Disability rights are universal rights to be recognized and promoted around the world” said President Obama. He also acknowledged that 650 million people in the world’s population live with a disability.

In the European Union, more than 65 million persons have a disability: representing more than 10% of the citizens from 27 countries. Since its entry into force on May 2008, the Convention has been signed by all Member States and by the European Community; it has been ratified by 9 EU countries including Belgium in July 2009. The ratification by the European Community is expected by the end of the year and it will be the first time in its history that the Community are going to accede to an international human rights treaty. With 142 signatories and 62 ratifications only just 28 months after opening the Convention for signatures, the UN CRPD sets an unprecedented record of commitment by the International Community.