Inclusion Daily Express -- Countries Line Up To Sign Global Disability Rights Treaty

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Countries Line Up To Sign Global Disability Rights Treaty
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
March 21, 2007

UNITED NATIONS--As many United Nations member countries prepare to ratify the first global treaty to protect the rights of the world's 650 million people with disabilities, some advocates are trying to encourage countries that have traditionally championed human rights to sign on as well.

During a ceremony on March 30, at least 40 countries are expected to sign on to the Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Only 20 countries are needed to ratify the treaty.

Delegates from over 100 countries met for five years with hundreds of representatives from non-governmental disability organizations to draft and then negotiate many details of the treaty. The final version of the treaty, which the UN General Assembly approved in December, has 40 articles addressing such issues as a right to be free from forced institutionalization; to own and inherit property; participate in public and cultural life; receive an adequate standard of living; have access to affordable equipment; and protection of privacy. It also calls for eliminating barriers to employment, the environment, transportation, public facilities and communication, and for developing countries to receive help in implementing the treaty.

The American Association of People with Disabilities is encouraging advocates to contact the White House and members of Congress to pressure the United States to sign on to the treaty. The Bush administration announced in June of 2003 that it would not sign any international treaty protecting people with disabilities from discrimination. Administration officials said national laws, such as the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, should cover such rights.

Canadian disability advocates expressed surprise and disappointment to learn that their country, which had been involved in drafting the treaty, would not sign on to it.

"Canadian governments have participated in the creation of this document over the past five years," Don Wilkinson, executive director of Community Living York South in Ontario, told a reporter. "Why they are backing down now is very confusing and certainly sends a negative message to Canadians living with a disability."

Related:
"Cabinet approves agreement protects disabled rights" (Yemen News Agency)
http://www.sabanews.net/view.php?scope=f9129&dr=&ir=&id=128082
"Agencies puzzled by feds' stance on disabled pact" (York Region)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/07/red/0321a.htm
"Urge President Bush to Sign the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities" (American Association of People with Disabilities)
http://www.aapd-dc.org/News/international/070310aapd.htm
"Text of Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities" (United Nations)
http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml

Copyright © 2007 Inonit Publishing
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