In early December the General Assembly of the United Nations passed a new human rights convention, which will connect the protection of human rights with the removal of barriers for persons with disabilities.
Persons with disabilities are often times unable to enjoy their rights as they are confronted with a blend of physical and other barriers as well as prejudices.
Based on the new convention persons with disabilities can make specific claims for the implementation of their rights: barrier-free access to health services, for example: this means (physically) fully accessible, within community reach (not in a far away city) and equal treatment by doctors. The broad range of rights enshrined in the Convention also includes the rights of children with disabilities , the right to mobility and the right to education .
The Convention is also an awareness-raising-tool. During the negotiations it became obvious that government representatives often lacked information about the implications and consequences of the multiple barriers, which persons with disabilities face. At the same time they were not aware how easily some of those can be removed. The justification of lacking knowledge is turned meaningless through the intensive negotiations at an international level – the majority of the 192 member states of the United Nations participated actively in the drafting process.
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD added its expertise in international cooperation to the negotating process: a separate Article of the Convention guarantees the full inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities in international cooperation programs. The urgency for this provision is underscored by the fact that according to estimates 80% of the world’s 600 million persons with disabilities live in developing countries.
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD is particularly pleased that this Convention is the first human rights treaty to contain a separate provision on international cooperation. The other seven human rights treaties (e.g. Child Rights Convention, Women’s Rights Convention, and Covenant on Social & Economic Rights) although they make references to international cooperation, do not enshrine a separate provision.
The draft text was provisionally adopted by a special Committee in New York in late August after not even five years of negotiations. The text is now being reviewed by a so-called „Drafting Committee“ to ensure consistency of the text and will then be formally adopted by the UN's General Assembly.
Thereafter, all of the UN’s 192 member states are invited to ratify the text and incorporate it into their national legislation. In Austria the Parliament has to pass a decision to do so. Following ratification, all of the rights enshrined in the 60 Article long Convention will be applicable nationally.
Based on an optional protocol States may provide for individuals to complain about infringements and implementation shortcomings to a special UN Committee.
The most speedily negotiated Convention of the United Nations is a historic breakthrough, which will ensure the full equality of persons with disabilties.
Breakthrough for rights of persons with disabilities First Human Rights Convention of the 21st Century successfully completed with support by LIGHT FOR THE WORLD in New York
"Bring this spirit to the world", exclaimed an obviously moved President of the UN General Assembly, Jan Eliasson to the delegates of the Ad Hoc Committee. Literally at the eleventh hour, two hours after the official deadline for negotiations had elapsed and only a few minutes before the microphones were about to be switched off, a milestone was reached: the text of the eighth human rights convention was provisionally adopted. Therewith, the most speedily negotiated human rights convention in the history of the United Nations was concluded.
It is a groundbreaking achievement for the 600 Million persons with disabilities, 80 % of whom live in developing countries.
Human beings such as four-year-old Terfa from Ethiopia, who is physically disabled will benefit from having vastly improved possibility following the adoption and implementation of this new Convention.
Rupert Roniger, director of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD: "For the first time the right of blind and other persons with disabilities to full and equal access to development, education and health services is stipulated."
A separate optional protocol was concluded on the basis of which, individuals may file complaints with a specialized UN-Committee. A special implementation mechanism will ensure that the newly set standards will also be put into practice for the approx. 500 Million persons with disabilities in developing countries.
Said Rupert Roniger: "A special provision for which LIGHT FOR THE WORLD lobbied strongly, will support efforts aimed at ensuring that persons with disabilities have full and equal access to development programs. This will guarantee that those human beings most in need of access to development measures will have access thereto: children, women and men with disabilities."
The first Convention of the new Millennium is the most speedily negotiated and was concluded with vast support from the civil society: some 800 non-governmental organizations shared their expertise. As soon as the text is formally adopted by the General Assembly, states parties may sign and ratify it to make the new standards nationally applicable.
Some of the important achievements for the full and equal participation of persons with disabilities, which were agreed to late Friday evening are:
The morning session started with more than two hours delay. The Chair stated that both the implementation mechanism and the final clauses were almost ready to be adopted, however, no motion was passed to actually approve the provisions. Remarks were made about one "issue" being an unexpected obstacle, while no-one stated which issue that was it became clear that the question of inserting "foreign occupation" in draft Article 11 – a provision for situations of risk – posed a major problem. The term has taken on the connotation for the conflict in the Mid-East. Delegations agreed that they would try and seek agreeable language. After adopting Article 15 (Freedom from Torture), the Committee suspended the meeting for further negotiations.
The suspension lasted until late in the day, when the Committee moved to adopt another set of Articles. After a series of intervention stressing both the importance of international cooperation and the difficulties in balancing the need for such exchange with meeting obligations set in the Convention, the Committee moved to adopt Article 32, International Cooperation. Given that 80% of persons with disabilities live in developing countries, LIGHT FOR THE WORLD deems this provision to be essential to bring about effective and full enjoyment of rights for all, particularly persons with disabilities.
If the Convention is to be adopted on Friday, which is still expected to happen, this would be the first human rights convention with a separate and specific provision on inclusive development: namely ensuring that development programs are rights based and take into account the perspective and full participation of persons with disabilities in all stages of the development cycle: namely the planning, implementation and evaluation of international cooperation. Naturally, LIGHT FOR THE WORLD welcomes this achievement, which promises to improve the lives of persons with disabilities in developing countries substantially. We remain hopeful that agreement is not only in reach but will actually be achieved by the Committee on the last day of its final session.
Article 33 (National monitoring) was adopted, too; the discussion on Article 24 (Education) seemed to be drawing to a close but could not be completed quite yet.
Only 24 negotiating hours away from the session’s closure, the Chair started the eighth day of the meeting by having two articles adopted ad referendum, namely article 9 (accessibility) and 26 (habilitation & rehabilitation). These provisions had already been ready for adoption yesterday but apparently were "saved" for adption this morning to have the Committee regain momentum. Alas, that did not happen. Contrary to expectations, the Committee did not move to adopt further articles and instead the Chair called for another suspension to allow for negotiations.
Before letting delegations off, he did, however, implore colleagues "to negotiate". He went on to say "at this stage, when we all know that agreement is within reach, there is one question that delegations have to ask themselves: would this proposal prevent my government from becoming party to this convention. If this is so, the delegation should insist on its proposal". If it is not, it should withdraw.
After a lengthy break, the Chair declared that a number of proposals were "on the brink of agreement", nevertheless, only one further article, on equality and non-discrimination (Article 5), was adopted.
Informal negotiations on the monitoring system continued after lunch break and resulted in agreement on a draft optional protocol minus country visits. In a formidable effort, the delegate of Liechtenstein, Stefan Barriga, had produced a draft virtually over night that enables States Parties to commit their countries to a regime, whereby individuals may lodge a complaint with the Committee that is to be in charge of the Convention’s implementation once they have used up all available legal recourse. Country visits, which would have allowed the said Committee to do on-site investigations following the country’s agreement thereto, however, were dropped.
Following yet another suspension, the Committee adopted Article 28 (Adequate Standard of Living). Despite the Chair’s warning that the "clock is ticking", no further provisions were passed by the Committee today. Roughly one third of the Convention’s "main" provisions are now adopted. There are still a number of articles open, which require substantial negotiations. Monitoring and the question of legal capacity and integrity are one major set of such issues. Also, international cooperation, which LIGHT FOR THE WORLD deems essential, is still to be finalized. At the end of the session, the Chair warned of the consequences of not completing the task on Friday, in particular the consequences for persons with disabilities around the world who expect an effective set of guidelines.
H.E., the Ambassador of Mexico, Gomez Robledo, who leads negotiations on the implementation provisions, reported back on the informals’ progress. Both he and the Chair expressed their sincere hope that this – essential – part of the Convention could and should be concluded on Wednesday evening. Another round of informals was scheduled for Tuesday evening.
The remainder of the day was spent on additional proposals, again with a couple of them being withdrawn and making way for "clean text" and therewith the ad referendum, that is to say provisional, adoption of a number of articles: 3 (General Principles), 20 (Personal Mobility) & 13 (Access to justice).
There was a brief discussion on proposals made with regard to Article 32, International Co-operation, a provision LIGHT FOR THE WORLD deems essential to make the Convention effective in developing countries, where some 80% of Persons with Disabilities live.
The Chair was rightfully proud of having 11 Articles – roughly one third of the Convention’s provisions – adopted ad referendum and urged delegations to maintain the momentum.
The afternoon session was suspended twice for longer periods to allow delegations to find and make compromises. After a long wait, only one further article, namely number 7 (Children with Disabilities) was adopted under the thunder of applause. Agreeing on a highly contentious provision, the Ad Hoc Committee seemed to be making steps towards regaining its momentum. The provision had only been proposed at the last session and many delegations opposed its insertion, citing fear that it would create a "list" of special "groups", which bears the risk of leaving "others" out.
The Committee has now approved 12 Articles and therewith more than one third of the proposed provisions. It is expected that the Committee will move swiftly on Wednesday to adopt the remaining of the non-controversial articles and then take on the more contested provisions, which were discussed during the first part of the first week. Convention NOW!
The first day of what is hoped to be the last week of negotiations of the Ad Hoc Committee was a mixed bag: there was as much hope as there was reason for doubt on the prospects of conclusion: the Chair started out by estimating that as many as 150 proposals were submitted by Friday, midnight. The Chairperson, H.E. Ambassador Don MacKay, then set out to have the already available proposals officially introduced one by one.
In a tactical strike, however, he first moved to have those articles, for which no proposals were submitted, adopted ad referendum. To the thunder of much applause, the Committee then proceeded to adopt Articles 10 (Right to life), 14 (Liberty & Security of the Person) & 22 (Respect for Privacy).
The day was spent with delegations briefly presenting their proposals and the Chair looking for the (dis)approval of those. In a growing number of instances, delegations withdrew their proposals in light of stark opposition. Again, the Committee displayed its approval for such willingness to compromise and thus move the process forward by applauding such withdrawals. In the course of the day, the Committee was able to adopt ad referendum a number of further proposals, namely Articles 19 (Living independently and being included in the community), 30 (Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport) and 31 (Statistics and Data Collection).
At the end of the day the Chair voiced his hope that tomorrow, Tuesday, roughly 24 negotiating hours away of the conclusion of the meeting, delegations would conclude the majority of the provisions ad referendum. He did stress that having adopted six articles ad referendum was a "milestone". Also, the Chairperson was hopeful that as of Wednesday only the articles with bracketed text and those, which remain "highly contentious", most notably the provision on monitoring (see report for Monday of last week) would still be up for discussion.
The day started with a lengthy explanation by the Chair on the fact that there were roughly 30 hours of negotiating time left and that "things" would have to move forward very swiftly now. H.E. Ambassador MacKay reminded delegations of the need to make concession and urged them to find compromises. Referring to the next procedural step after the Ad Hoc Committee would adopt the text, namely the review of the text by a so-called drafting committee, the Chair remarked "we need to move on in order to send something to the drafting committee."
The Ad Hoc Committee then moved to discuss the provisions of the draft Convention article by article. A number of proposals were made for the preamble as well as the first seven articles of the Convention, which cover the purpose (Article 1), definitions (Article 2), general principles (Article 3), general obligations (Article 4) and equality (Article 5). It was surprising to see how many delegations felt the need to make proposals despite the fact that all of these provisions have been discussed at length in so far seven sessions. A fair assessment of this development may be summed up as "dismay."
Therefore, it was not surprising that the Chair proposed after the lunch break that all proposals would have to be submitted to the secretariat in writing by 06:00 p.m. Friday. In addition, the Chair anticipated a string of informal meetings instead of the afternoon session. After much ado the session was adjourned with most informal meetings cancelled and the deadline for submissions pushed to Friday midnight. The Chair stressed that delegations would have drafted their proposals well in advance and would therefore rightly be expected to have them ready for submission.
The Chair emphasized that every negotiations process reaches a point of crisis and that this is where the Committee has now arrived. He rightly pointed out that if agreement was not reached within a week, it would for one be unlikely that agreement would be reached in any future sessions and that the quality of the draft - also because the experts on delegations were leaving on the standard rotary-system - would then start to suffer significantly. A few informals are to be held in the course of the weekend, the negotiations are to resume on Monday, 21. August.
The fourth day opened with the Chair's proposal to run through all articles immediately following the discussion of the contentious provisions. He made it very clear that in his efforts to bring the negotiations to a close, only written proposals for amendment would be accepted and that he expected delegations to seek approval of any such proposals prior to discussion in the plenary.
The contentious phrase in the article on respect for the home and the family was discussed: "Persons with disabilities have the equal opportunity to [experience their sexuality] have sexual and other intimate relationships and experience parenthood" (Article 23). The debate was in major parts a revisit of discussions in earlier meetings as well as yesterday's discussion of the article on health and the provision on "sexual and reproductive health services."
The negotiations then moved to the so-called "final clauses", provisions that are part of each multinational treaty and include stipulations on whether and if so how the Convention may be amended or how many countries need to ratify the Convention prior to its coming into force. The discussion had very ably been prepared in informal negotiations and is expected to be closed very soon.
Finally, the Chair took up the remaining contentious article, "situations of risk". The debate was again a film that one has already seen at the Committee, i.e. a discussion on having a general provision enshrining that the increased vulnerability of persons with disabilities in emergency situations – such as earthquakes and conflict zones – should be addressed adequately. The opposite group argued for a detailed article that sets out the applicable situations of risk more clearly and thus also includes "foreign occupation". Within the UN this term only connotes the conflict between Israel and Palestine and thus carries substantial political meaning.
The Chair adjourned the meeting early to make way for the informal consultations on the definition of disability/disabilities. Tomorrow, Friday, the run-through of all provisions, article by article, will start.
The third day of negotiations was again devoted to issues that are viewed as contentious for a number of reasons. The level of agreement on them varied considerably in the course of the day. Negotiations started on a comparably positive note in the discussion on separate provisions for women and children respectively. The decision to include special provisions for these two particularly vulnerable "groups" had only been taken at the last session in January and prior to today’s talks it was not clear whether governments had fully understood the importance of the so-called twin track approach.
The twin-track approach connotes that a specific issue is included at all relevant levels and thereby mainstreamed into the general text and that in addition measures aimed at addressing this specific issue are taken. Many governments opposed the so-called "singling out" of women and children in separate provisions in the past because they feared that this may lead to creating shopping-lists, i.e. a number of issues get raised at the risk of leaving other – also important – issues out. However, today it seemed that governments' awareness has risen far enough to support the inclusion of separate articles, 6 (women) & 7 (children) respectively.
Next item on the agenda was the article on education. The discussion revolved around the full inclusion of persons with disabilities in mainstream education. Many governments advocated a formulation that would allow a loophole to continue the segregation of persons with disabilities. However, there was a balance between those governments and others, who support a state-of-the-art provision, which ensures that persons with disabilities can enjoy full inclusion in educational facilities. The IDC – the International Disability Caucus – which serves as the umbrella for many of the NGOs that have been represented since the early stages of negotiations voiced its disappointment over the dwindling support very eloquently. Many observers were taken by surprise that some governments appeared to be back-tracking on an issue that had been perceived as solved.
Finally, the Committee looked at the article on health. There was considerable contention over the inclusion of a phrase on "sexual and reproductive health services." This phrase was placed in brackets at the end of the Seventh AHC in January because no agreement seemed to be in reach. Today again, governments rallied support on the pro & con side claiming one the one hand that special recognition due to bad practice was deeply necessary and arguing against that such a phrase was unprecedented in a binding human rights document and also not sufficiently clear.
Thursday's tentative schedule will discuss the final clauses of the Convention and a provision on emergency situations such as the aftermath of an earthquake.
The pros & cons of a definition of "disabilities" dominated the second day of negotiations. Furthermore, the provision on international cooperation, which LIGHT FOR THE WORLD deems particularly crucial, was discussed. In the afternoon talks on access to justice (Article 12) and the intertwined legal capacity of persons with disabilities resumed.
If no definition is used, the term "disabilities" remains entirely open and interpretation can be made on a case-by-case basis. This has a – theoretical – advantage that the so-called social aspect of disabilities, such as prejudices and stereotypes can be included in the scope of disabilities, thereby moving away from historically entrenched limitations, which focus on the medical aspects of disabilities. The disadvantage, however, would be that in particular in cases of discrimination/unequal treatment questions will remain, whether the individual is actually protected by the Convention.
Inserting a definition opens up questions on its formulation to ensure that social aspects (see above) are sufficiently covered. Also, one has to be careful not to leave out individuals and interests in need of protection.
The discussion on international cooperation, a provision that LIGHT FOR THE WORLD deems essential given that approx. 80% of the estimated 600 million persons with disabilities live in developing countries, was comparatively short. The Chair suggested that delegations should consult informally on a formulation, which guarantees that no country can make its compliance with the Convention's rights and obligations dependent on receiving further funds from aid programs. LIGHT FOR THE WORLD welcomes the commitment of the UN-Member States to international cooperation and is convinced that this provision is a vital contribution to ensure that persons with disabilities are better included and can fully partake in international cooperation programs and related action.
In a statement related to Monday’s discussion, Mexico underscored the importance of the various announcements of commitment to an early conclusion of the negotiations. The Chair also underlined the principle commitment to complete the draft Convention by August 25.
The civil society representatives (Non-Governmental Organizations, NGOs) are a vocal voice but are keeping a comparably low profile in the penal discussions. According to the Chair, H.E. Ambassador MacKay, some 800 people have been registered as NGO-representatives. The conference room, hosting most of the 192 Member States with comparably large delegations, which include persons with disabilities among their experts, is almost bursting. The NGO-slogan "nothing about us without us" is still the underlying signature and the presence of civil society can be felt and seen in ongoing talks in corridors and other venues. Efforts are made to allow the Member States maximum time to find agreement on open issues.
Tuesday afternoon's session also tackled the issue of legal capacity and access to justice (Article 12). Whereas NGOs want a paradigm-shift doing away with substituted decision making, replacing it with supported decision making processes, it appears that delegations are willing to find consent on a middle-way of sorts, namely to declare legal capacity as the ultimate goal but maintain substituted decision making where necessary. The need for continued processes that run the risk of replacing the will of the person with disabilities with that of another one is grounded in an array of legal necessities.
The negotiations of the Eighth Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities (Ad Hoc Committee) commenced successfully in New York on Monday. In opening the meeting, the Chair, H.E. Ambassador Don MacKay underscored that, in keeping with the pertinent General Assembly Resolution, the Ad Hoc Committee is expected to conclude its work at the end of its current session, namely August 25. The Chair stressed that while there was “huge pressure” on the meeting to resolve the remaining open issues, the participants could also look proudly to what has been achieved in past sessions.
The Ad Hoc Committee is to conclude a draft Convention establishing a framework that ensures that human rights can be enjoyed fully and equally by persons with disabilities. As practice has shown, the existing laws are not sufficient in ensuring this enjoyment and therefore have to be specified by way of a special Convention.
Ahead of the meeting, the president of the General Assembly, H.E. Ambassador Jan Eliasson in a letter to Member States encouraged delegations to approach the negotiations with a maximum of flexibility and pragmatism in order to reach agreement to the Convention, which is in everyone’s interest.
The first day of negotiations focused on international monitoring, which despite a lot of support is not yet ready for conclusion: opinions are split whether a model such as that used in other specialized conventions, e.g. the Child Rights Convention, should be used or whether the outcome of the ongoing discussions on a new treaty body, which is to cover monitoring of most of the specialized human rights conventions should be studied first. The comments on monitoring revolved around the Mexican proposal, which includes frequent references to the incorporation of international cooperation, an issue which is very close to LIGHT FOR THE WORLD given that more than 80% of the approximately 600 million persons with disabilities live in developing countries.
A special provision on the ensuring that persons with disabilities are included in international cooperation, draft Article 32, is to be discussed on the second day, Tuesday, Aug 15.
Hearing impaired pupils in Ethiopia
The incomplete protection of human rights has manifold reasons. The shortcomings of protection for persons with disabilities has - for the most part - very practical reasons: often governments, organizations and individuals are not aware of the barriers, which stand in the way both structurally and individually of protecting the rights and the enjoyment of rights for persons with disabilities.
Since 2001 a special Committee of the United Nations in New York, the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive & Integral International Convention on the Rights & Dignity of Persons with Disabilities has worked on drafting a text, which is to guarantee international standards for the full protection of the rights of persons with disabilities.
The United Nations have vast experience in making human rights applicable to special issues or the needs of particular groups. The most well known special conventions - there are seven so far - are the Child Rights Convention, the Convention against Torture, the Convention on the Elimination of Racism and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.
The new Convention seeks to combine the protection of human rights with the elimination of barriers to guarantee the full enjoyment of all rights for all and therewith complete equality of persons with disabilities. LIGHT FOR THE WORLD is particularly interested in ensuring the equality of persons with disabilities in developing countries by way of a special provision - Article 32 in the draft - also in recognition of the poverty-related special needs. LIGHT FOR THE WORLD would like to see persons with disabilities included at all levels of international development cooperation. Article 32 is to guarantee that.
E.g. democratic processes, such as parliamentary debates, are to be made accessible for deaf people by providing adequate interpretation. For sight-impaired and blind persons there should be barrier-free formats such as Braille.
The latest initiative of the United Nations to draft a Convention for persons with disabilities came about courtesy of Mexico at the World Conference against Racism in Durban in 2001. Based on a General Assembly resolution that same year the special Committee was installed that same year. The Committee has met seven times since 2001, with one session of a working group providing a consolidated text.
A lot of governments are participating: many of them include national experts and some also representatives of disabled people's organizations in their delegations. However, so-called non-governmental-organizations (NGOs) can also sit in on the meetings and offer their expertise to government delegations. Many governments make use of this possibility. As is also emphasized by many diplomats, the meetings show a high degree of cooperation between governments and civil society, rare to United Nations' meetings.
The text of the Convention is to be finalized at the end of August. Then the draft is to go to the General Assembly for approval. As is to be expected of a text with about 50 articles and 192 governments negotiating, there are still a number of open issues. In addition to a couple of a minor issues there are a few major points of contention:
The working text of the new Convention before the final round of negotiations
From August 15th Marianne Schulze will provide us with a daily update from New York.
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