The 18th session of the Conference of State Parties to the UN CRPD (COSP18) will take place from 10-12 June 2025 in New York. The overarching theme is “Enhancing public awareness of the rights and contributions of persons with disabilities for social development leading up to the World Social Summit”.
Read our page on the Conference for more information.
Call for Speakers
The Bureau of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities invites civil society to nominate panel speakers for the upcoming 18th COSP. Following previous practices and experience, four criteria will apply across the board in selecting speakers for the roundtables including:
- Specific expertise in the relevant topic area of the roundtable;
- Balance of geographic regional representation;
- Gender balance;
- Diversity of disabilities of the panel composition (candidates with or without disabilities and candidates with different types of disabilities).
Before submitting a nominee, please bear in mind the following:
- Nominees MUST have a valid visa to travel to the United States in June 2025. In previous years, we have tried hard to maintain the CSO speaking slots and have almost lost slots because submitters had not guaranteed visas for the speakers. PLEASE ensure your nominee has a valid visa to the USA. The CSCM cannot help with this.
- Please nominate individuals who have not participated as panelists or co-chairs in previous COSP sessions;
- No funding is available to support nominees travel to New York, so please ensure the nominee has funding to travel, prior to submitting.