The United Nations General Assembly to adopt a Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Press release 525/2006
13 December, 2006
In its session starting in New York at 5 p.m. Finnish time today, 13th of December, the United Nations General Assembly will adopt the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that was completed earlier this autumn, and its Optional Protocol. The Convention will be opened for signature and ratification by the 192 member states of the United Nations in New York on the 30th of March 2007. In order to enter into force, the Convention will need to be ratified by 20 members.
This convention is the first human rights treaty negotiated in the 21st century, and it will be comparable with the seven earlier UN Conventions on Human Rights. The negotiations were completed in August 2006 only four years after they had been initiated. In addition to the representatives of UN member states, the negotiations were attended by a large number of representatives of international organisations, NGOs and organisations for persons with disabilities in particular, which exceptionally also had the right to speak during the negotiations. The non-governmental organisations played a very significant role in the negotiations, as they contributed versatile views and extensive expertise to the themes covered by the Convention.
The 650 million disabled people in the world form one of the most excluded groups, whose life and development are hindered by a large number of physical, legal and social barriers. Currently only some 45 countries have legislation that specifically deals with persons with disabilities. The Convention will require the member states to also guarantee for disabled persons all those rights that in human rights treaties have been confirmed as belonging to all human beings. A central idea of the Convention is banning discrimination and guaranteeing equal treatment in all facets of life.
For many parts, the implementation of the Convention can only take place progressively, except for such as the ban on discrimination, which will take effect immediately. A central requirement for achieving the goals of the Convention is a general change of attitudes, and to manage this the member states will commit to promoting the abolishment of stereotypes and prejudices and to increasing awareness of various disabilities and the positive impact disabled persons have on social diversity.
The Convention does not institute new human rights but aims to detail the ways of implementing the existing rights taking the conditions of disabled persons in consideration. Countries that ratify the treaty will be committed to developing and implementing practices, legislation and administrative measures for the equal implementation of rights and to abolish legislation, regulations and customs that can be regarded as discriminating.
The Optional Protocol attached to the Convention will allow individual petitions by disabled persons to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities concerning any violations of the treaty once all national recourse procedures have been exhausted. The Committee will also receive periodic reports from the State parties on progress made in implementing the treaty, and issue recommendations on the adequacy of the implementation measures.
In addition to civil servants from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, representatives of a number of other authorities and NGOs took part in the national drafting. In certain Articles of the Convention, the EU member states have a shared competence with the European Commission, which is why the right to speak for EU countries was exercised by the Presidency. Finland as the EU Presidency finally negotiated and adopted the text of the Convention. The signature and ratification will also require corresponding measures by the Commission, and this is why national measures are dependent on the Commission. Finland aims to sign the Convention as early as possible.
For the text of the Convention and its Protocol in English, please refer to the attachment of the Committee report at http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahcfinalrepe.htm(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window).
Other information relevant to the Convention is available on the UN web pages at:
http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/index.shtml(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/adhoccom.htm(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
Further information: Consulting Counsellor Viveca Arrhenius, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, tel. +358 9 1607 4135, and Legal Officer Leena Leikas, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 5731