18 April 2012 /// The 7th session of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee), is held in Geneva on 16-20 April 2012. It reviews the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 4 countries.
> WHICH COUNTRIES ARE REVIEWED?

During the first two days of the session, which were open to the public, the Committee considered the initial report of Peru. After Tunisia and Spain, Peru is the 3rd country ever to be reviewed by the CRPD Committee and subject to the Concluding Observations. The Committee also took an initial look at the reports of Argentina, China and Hungary. The dialogue with the governments of these countries will be held during the September session of the Committee.
> THE SIDE EVENT NOT TO MISS
In addition to the official programme of the session, a number of lunchtime side events is organised around it. In particular, on 18 April, the Hungarian Disability Caucus presented its alternative report at a lunchtime event hosted by the International Disability Alliance and EDF, and highlighted its main concerns about the implementation of the Convention in Hungary.
> SPEED UP THE COUNTRY REVIEW
As of today, 8 EU Member States (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Sweden and the UK), that ratified the CRPD are pending for review by the Committee, having submitted their initial reports. In order to speed up the country review, the CRPD Committee has been granted an additional session week, and will now be meeting for one week in April and two weeks in September.
> 2+1=3 RATIFICATIONS
The 22nd of March saw Bulgaria deposit its instrument of ratification of the Convention with the UN. Moreover, on the 10th of April the Greek Parliament also ratified both the Convention and the Optional Protocol, following Estonia that did the same few weeks earlier. The next step for both Greece and Estonia is to also deposit the instrument of ratification with the UN. At European level, up until now 22 countries have ratified the Convention; it is high time for Finland, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands and Poland to follow their example.
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