Press Release
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| UNITED NATIONS Press Release |
xxxxxxxxxx | New UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities begins its work | xxxxxxxxxx |
6 March 2009 GENEVA -- The newest UN treaty body, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, is now up and running. It is the ninth such body to be created to help monitor the implementation of an international human rights treaty During its first-ever session, from 23 to 27 February in Geneva, the Committee dealt mainly with procedural issues: electing its officers, starting to draft its provisional rules of procedure, and organizing its future work. It also met with representatives of some of the 50 States that are already party to the the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, even though it has only been in force for nine months. Committee members also met with a number of UN agencies and non-governmental organizations to discuss ways of their future cooperation. At the end of the session, the Committee adopted its first statement, in which it emphasized again the need for an immediate transition from the medical model of disability (i.e. one which considers that persons with a disability have something wrong with them) to the human rights and social model (which considers that there is something wrong with a society if it does not allow persons with disabilities to enjoy their full human rights). The Committee stated it would pay particular attention to all persons with disabilities, while also considering the specific conditions of those who were vulnerable such as women, children, older persons, persons with disabilities in rural areas and in areas of armed conflict, persons with multiple disabilities, indigenous people, migrants, asylum-seekers and others. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities was adopted on 13 December 2006 by the UN General Assembly. The Convention and its Optional Protocol entered into force on 3 May 2008. So far, the Convention has acquired 139 signatories and 50 states parties. Several other states such as the UK, Russia, Switzerland and Angola have shown interest in adhering to the Convention in the near future. The purpose of the Convention is to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity. Under the Convention and its Optional protocol the Committee has the following three main functions: to review states parties reports, to receive and decide on individual complaints, and to conduct inquiries including on-sight visits to states parties. The committee is composed by the following 12 members: Amna Ali Al Suweidi (Qatar); Mohammed Al-Tarawneh (Jordan); Lotfi Ben Lallohom (Tunisia); Monsur Ahmed Choudhuri (Bangladesh); María Soledad Cisternas Reyes (Chile); György Könczei (Hungary); Edah Wangechi Maina (Kenya); Ronald McCallum AO (Australia); Ana Peláez Narváez (Spain); Germán Xavier Torres Correa (Ecuador); Cveto Uršič (Slovenia); and Jia Yang (China). The following officers have been elected: Mr. Al-Tarawneh as the Chairperson; Mr. Könczei, Ms. Maina, Ms. Peláez, Mr. Torres and Ms. Yang as the Vice-Chairpersons; Mr. McCallum as the general Rapporteur and Ms. Al Suweidi as the Rapporteur for the Optional Protocol. Full text of the Committee's first statement |