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Teaching Kit for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
By Andrea Shettle, MSW | June 11, 2008
A growing number of international organizations are producing training materials to help people better understand the international convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (CRPD). One of these is Handicap International, which has a teaching kit available as a resource that organizations can use to train people on the CRPD.
The teaching kit" includes visual power point presentations, Word document files, and PDF files that cover various aspects of the convention.
Contents include: 1. Basic concepts of disability: This section provides key figures on the theme of disability; and the shift from a "medical" or charity perspective of disability to a human rights based model of disability. (Those interested in this topic may also wish to read the paper "Disability Movement from Charity to Empowerment )
2. Basic concepts of human rights: covers the definition of human rights; the difference between civil and political rights versus economic, social, and cultural rights; and the role of United Nations (UN) bodies in the field of human rights.
3. International treaties on human rights and disability: this section provides information on international human rights treaties relevant to people with disabilities; the role of standard rules on equalizing opportunities for disabled people; the ineffectiveness of international texts for people with disabilities; and the reasons why the new convention was drafted.
4. The process of elaboration of the Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities: here, readers will find the reasons why it became necessary to draft a legally binding convention on people with disabilities; the initial resolution calling to draft the convention based on prior work done in the fields of social developman, human rights, and non-discrimination; the drafting process of the convention; and the crucial role played by civil society in the drafting process.
5. Contents of the Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities: this section explains the structure of the convention and the presentation of the rights in it; general principles for how the convention can help states and civil society respect the fundamental rights of disabled people; opportunities for people with disabilities to be involved in making decisions that have a direct impact on them; and important concepts such as prohibiting all discrimination on the basis of disability.
6. The international undertaking of States: this section covers the difference between signing a convention and ratifying it; how states can limit their support for a convention by expressing reservations; the possibility that a state could refuse to apply the convention even though they already have agreed to support it. Civil society (i.e., organizations that are not part of the government) are important in making sure that countries implement the CRPD.
7. Implementation and monitoring of the Convention: this section explains what states must do at the national level to implement the convention; how country governments and civil society can cooperate at the international level to help implement the convention; how to help monitor implementation to ensure that countries respect their obligations; the possibility for individuals or NGOs (non-governmental organizations) to lodge complaints if rights protected under the convention are violated; why it is vital to include people with disabilities in human development programs (for example, in fighting poverty) in order to effectively implement the CRPD.
8. The civil society involvement in the implementation of the Convention: the last section address the challenges that confront civil society in helping implement the CRPD; and what is necessary before it is possible to promote the rights of disabled people.
The Handicap International teaching kit is available at: http://www.handicap-international.fr/en/our-approach-to-disability/une-convention-internationale/kit-pedagogique-sur-la-convent/index.html (click where it says "click here" on the page)
In addition to this resource, individuals and organizations involved with training or advocacy efforts for the CRPD may also wish to scroll down this page to explore all the links in the right hand navigation bar at RatifyNow. We have links to a range of resources and toolkits. This article was originally posted at the We Can Do blog and is re-posted here with permission of author.
Topics: Teaching Tool |
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