« Disability Rights Rally Urges Latvia to Sign Disability Rights Treaty | Home | Niger Ratifies International Disability Rights Treaty »
European Union Needs to Implement Disability Rights Treaty, Say Conference Participants
By Andrea Shettle, MSW | June 20, 2008
Participants in a recent conference on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, urged the European Union to establish an action plan for implementing the CRPD, the Slovenia Press Agency and Hwelt have reported (stories entitled Conference Promoting Persons with Disabilities Convention; People with Disabilities Expect Action).
The CRPD is the first international, legally-binding treaty to protect the rights of people with disabilities. It covers a wide range of human rights, including the rights of people with disabilities to have access to education, health care, transportation, recreational activities, and public services; the right to be protected from abuse and torture; the right to vote; and many more. So far, 27 countries have ratified the CRPD and an additional 102 countries have signaled official interest in ratifying it in the future. A country must ratify the CRPD before they are legally bound to obey it.
Of the ratifying countries ("States Parties"), 16 also have ratified the accompanying Optional Protocol. In countries that have ratified both the CRPD and the Optional Protocol, the Optional Protocol gives people with disabilities another way to pursue justice at the international level if they are unable to obtain redress at the domestic level. People in these countries may bring petitions and complaints to the international Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Slovenia has ratified both the CRPD and the Optional Protocol.
Read more about the conference in Slovenia by reading the news stories at http://www.sta.si/en/vest.php?s=a&t=0&id=1286722&pr=1 (Slovenia Press Agency); http://www.hwelt.de/c/content/view/1535/75/ (HWelt)
To learn more about the CRPD, you can quickly review the RatifyNow FAQ on the CRPD.
Learn about several different ways that YOU can become involved; in the global campaign to persuade as many countries as possible to sign, ratify, and implement the CRPD.
Topics: News |
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.