ROUGH EDITED COPY

United Nations

UN-Conference of State Parties GA Hall

June 13, 2017

This is being provided in a roughdraft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings
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[Captioner has no audio feed...] will continue with the presentation of the Libyan artist and human rights activist, Ms., whose strong commitment for promoting the rights of disabilities eventually led to the elaboration and adoption of the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. She has a degree in politics from the American university of Paris, and masters degree in New York university's conference online magazine. She is committed to discovering and nurturing the different ways in which humanitarian aid and the healing arts merge and how the creative process can be a vehicle for freedom and empowerment. I invite her to the stage now to share with you the beauty of her voice and Bulgarian music. Thank you.

> Please join me in welcoming the talented Bulgarian singer who will perform a traditional folklore piece and one of her own songs. You have the floor.

[Music]

[ Applause ]
> thank you.

[Music]

[ Applause ]
> Please welcome to the stage
the famous Libyan artist and
human rights activist Ms. Jihan
Kikhia, who will share the
powerful story of her father and
part of her creative work as an
artist.

Ms. Kikhia, you have the floor.

> Hello? Is this still working? First I would like to thank the bureau
of this Conference for their
interest in my father’s UN
advocacy.
My father, Mansur Rashid Kikhia,
was a Libyan human rights
activist, lawyer, and
politician. He served as the
Libyan Minister of Foreign
Affairs from 1971 to 1972, and
then Libyan Ambassador to the
United Nations, and Permanent
Libyan Representative to the
United Nations. During his
tenure at the UN, Mr. Kikhia was
President of its Security
Council in September 1976 and in
October 1977.
He is credited as the originator
of the idea for the United
Nations International Year of
Disabled Persons (IYDP), held in
1981. Libya submitted the
resolution proposing the IYDP to
the UN General Assembly, which
adopted it in 1974 and created a
23member state planning

Committee, of which he was elected chair. At which time, disability groups were invited by the U.N. to represent themselves instead of relying on spokespersons. A major outcome of the IYDP was the U.N. decade of disabled persons. From 1983 to 1992,
designed to improve the
situation and status of children
and adults with disabilities.
In 1975, the UN's adoption of
the International Symbol of
Access was a beacon of support
for the emerging commitment to
adapting the environment for use
by all, including those with
disabilities. This era launched
the modern human rights
framework for disability rights,
replacing the former charity and
medical approaches. Ambassador
Kikhia's human rights training
and diplomatic experience helped
steer this timely UN initiative
forward.
According to friends who well
remember Ambassador Kikhia, his
passion for the rights of people
with disabilities stemmed from
his experience growing up in
Benghazi in the 1930s, when he
witnessed a large population of
Libyans with warinduced
disabilities without access to
proper care. Like most countries
at the time, Libya's
infrastructure lacked both the
resources to provide services to
people with disabilities and
legal protections of their
rights.
At the 1978 international
conference on disability
legislation, he stressed that
one of the common denominators
of all countries was the lack of
awareness and education about
disability. The Ambassador's
leadership helped ensure a
successful IYDP, laying solid
groundwork in both the legal and
advocacy channels, leading
eventually to the UN Convention
on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities.

When I was six years old, my father disappeared and December 10 is human rights day. His body was located and identified 19 years later in 2012. On the third of December, 2012, a burial ceremony was held, and his local community in his hometown of Benghazi, Libya. I remember seeing the young children with disabilities join together and sing in honor of my father. I learned that December 3 is also international day of persons with disabilities, which I think is a fitting and profound symbol. My father was unaware of the successes in the United Nations. It is a wonder to see that the small seed that he helped plant has grown into the giant success that it is today. I sincerely want to thank you all for this platform to not only honor my father's efforts and contributions to human rights, but also to celebrate my father's life in the same room that he thrived in with his colleagues many years ago. His legacy lives on. His leadership helped to shift the focus of U.N. disability work to a legal framework where we can chart progress of children and adults from objects of charity to holders of human rights. Thank you very much.

[ Applause ]
> this concludes the cultural prelude. Please remain seated while a short video prepared by the Secretariat will be shown on the screens, after which the official opening of the conference will start. Thank you.

[Video]

> To me, inclusion means participation.

> Acknowledgment.

> Fulfillment.

> It means a barrierfree environment.

> To me, inclusion means that there is no inequality.

> No stigma and discrimination.

> Access to education, jobs, and services.

> It means empowerment.

> We are the world's largest minority, with over 1 billion people living with a disability today. In the U.N., leaving no one behind means removing barriers to full participation and equality for everyone, moving forward with the implementation of the 2030 agenda, the international community has made a commitment to include everyone in society and development. This includes mobilizing support for the dignity, rights, and wellbeing of all persons with disabilities. More than a decade ago, the General Assembly adopted a convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, laying out a blueprint to ensure the rights and wellbeing of those with disability and their inclusion in society and development.

Every year governments and other stakeholders from around the world come together in a conference of state parties to the CRPD, one of the largest and most diverse international disability meetings in the world to discuss the implementation of the convention, share experiences and ideas to forge a new way forward in creating a more inclusive and equal world. 6 the conference of state parties enables an opportunity to create the future we want for all, where no one is left behind. It provides a glimpse of a world that could be, a world that is fully inclusive of everybody, including persons with disabilities.

> Excellencies, Distinguished
Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the
SecretaryGeneral and my
Department, the Department of
Economic and Social Affairs, the
Secretariat to the Conference of
States Parties to the Convention
on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities, I wish to welcome
you all to the tenth session of
this Conference.
The Conference of State Parties
to the Convention (COSP) was
established in 2008 as a treaty
mechanism to consider all
matters concerning the
implementation of the Convention
on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (CRPD) in
accordance with its article 40.
To date, with 173 State Parties
to the Convention, this
Conference is one of the largest
global meetings on disability,
attracting over 1,300
participants.
This 10th session is taking
place at a critical juncture,
when the international community
is accelerating efforts to
advance an inclusive and
sustainable 2030 development
agenda in line with the
Convention and other relevant
global commitments. The
Conference has an important role
to play to help ensure that all
development efforts account for
the rights and voice of persons
with disabilities. Further,
combating multiple
discriminations against persons
with disabilities is essential
for implementation of the 2030
Agenda and the achievement of
the SDGs for all.

Thank you again for your
presence and your commitment.

Excellencies, I now proceed to
the first item of the
provisional agenda of the
Conference, CRPD/CSP/2017/1.

I have the great honour to
declare open the tenth session
of the Conference of States
Parties to the Convention on the
Rights of Persons with
Disabilities this morning.

Now I move onto agenda item 2:
Election of the President and
other Officers of the
Conference.
After consultations among all
regional groups, the States
Parties appointed the
Bureauelect of the Conference
of States Parties to the
Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities, for
the tenth and eleventh sessions.
The Bureauelect consists of:
Bulgaria as Presidentelect, and
Ecuador, Germany, Sri Lanka and
Tunisia as Vice
Presidentselect.

May I take it that it is the
wish of the Conference that it
elects Republic of Bulgaria as
the President of the Conference,
by acclamation?

It is so decided.

May I also take it that it is
the wish of the Conference that
it elects as VicePresidents
Ecuador, Germany, Sri Lanka and
Tunisia, by acclamation?

[ Applause ]
it is so decided.
Congratulations to the new
membership of the Bureau of the
Conference.

[ Applause ]
It is my honour to invite His
Excellency Ambassador Mr. Georgi
Panayotov of the Republic of
Bulgaria to step up to the
podium to assume the presidency
of the Conference.

> Once again, very good morning to all of you. It is an honor for the republic of Bulgaria to be the president of the tenth session of the conference of the states parties to the convention on the rights of the persons with disabilities. And on behalf of those of Ecuador, Germany, and others, thank you for your confidence in us. The necessary quorum is twothirds, and the quorum is 116 states parties. After checking with the secretary, I believe that we have obtained the appropriate quorum for this conference. With this, may I now proceed to item three of the provisional agenda, which is the adoption of the agenda. May I take it that this be adopted? It is so decided. We shall now proceed to the organization of work, which is item four of the provisional agenda. The first item shall be NGO accreditation and registration. A list of nongovernmental organizations requesting accreditation to the conference was circulated to all states parties on 15 May 2017. In accordance with the rules and procedure of the conference. The Secretariat has not received any requests or notice against these requests for accreditation. Therefore, it is understood that the list of NGO applications for accreditation is approved and the NGOs may participate in this and future conferences of states parties as observers. It is so decided.

In keeping with best practice, the conference also wishes to welcome participation by national human rights organizations, institutions, as observers as well as the global alliance of national human rights institutions. Now I have the honor to invite the next speaker to join us to the podium.

On the podium, I'm very pleased to recognize cabinet of the Secretary General of the United Nations.

Honorable ministers, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, the protection and promotion of human rights is one of the main pillars of the United Nations and an underlying principle of all the work of the organization in different areas. We have come a long way by adopting a number of international human rights treaties that upholds the rights and dignity of all, including the most vulnerable in our societies.

The convention on the rights of persons with disabilities was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 2006, and came into force in May 2008. We're happy to see the stable trend towards universal ratification of the CRPD, and we're determined to continue the concerted efforts in this direction. To date, we have 174 states parties already, which shows a strong commitment to the promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities from the majority of the countries in the world. I would like to recognize the newest states who ratified the conference after the 9th conference. Our mission is to turn the firm commitments to protect and promote the rights of persons with disabilities into concrete actions and tangible outcomes on the ground.

In the 11 years since the adoption of the CRPD, the international community has taken significant steps to advance its implementation. Progress has been made in many of our countries and by the United Nations, but more needs to be done and can be done to make a difference in the lives of over a billion persons with disabilities worldwide to ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy all human rights and are included in society on an equal basis with others.

Together, we must continue to make every efforts to achieve the goals to create society without discrimination and promote inclusion and development of those with disabilities. Efforts on ensuring equal opportunities in education, health care, employment, and all other aspects of life. Over the years, the conference of the states parties has been steadily growing and gaining prominence and has now become one of the largest and most important global forums on the rights of persons with disabilities. With our tenth conference today, we start a new decade of the CRPD. The overarching theme of our conference, the second decade of the CRPD, inclusion and full participation of persons with disabilities and their organizations in the implementation of the convention highlights this important landmark and also sets the tone for the way forward with an ambition to further strengthen the implementation of the convention by involving more active persons with disabilities themselves and representative organizations which is in line with the convention itself.

Under this overarching theme, our conference will focus on the following: Addressing the impact of multiple discriminations on persons with disabilities, and promoting their participation in multistakeholder partnerships for achieving the SDGs in line with the CRPD. Inclusion and full participation of persons with disabilities in humanitarian action. And third, promoting inclusive urban development and implementation of the new urban agenda, habitat III. The overarching theme and sub themes that we have agreed on by the bureau in close consultation with all the different stakeholders including member states, the U.N. system, civil society, and other stakeholders, and especially persons with disabilities and their representative organizations reflects the major intergovernmental agreements of the last couple of years that are closely related to and crucial for advancing the rights of persons can disabilities and the implementation of the CRPD. The success of those global agreements would largely depend on how we engage everyone in their implementation and insure that the voice of the most vulnerable and marginalized is heard and taken into consideration in all decisionmaking.

The ambitious 2030 agenda has laid the foundation for a more inclusive and peoplecentered approach by, for the first time, recognizing persons with disabilities as agents of development. Since the CRPD embraces human rights and development, persons can disabilities should be actively involved in the implementation of the 2030 agenda to ensure that no one is left behind. If we are to achieve sustainable development, we need to make sure that all efforts towards achieving the SDGs take into consideration persons with disabilities. I look forward to the next few days to explore ways for further strengthening the cooperation and partnership among states parties, United Nations entities, civil society and other stakeholders, especially those with disabilities themselves, to advance our shared mission: The full implementation of the convention and the realization of human rights of persons with disabilities with a view of achieving inclusive development in line with the CRPD. Thank you very much.

[ Applause ]
and now I have the honor to invite our next speaker to deliver her statement.
> Excellencies, Distinguished
Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Sit my pleasure to address the tenth conference of states parties to the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. I extend my warmest welcome to all delegates, especially those from new states parties, participants with disabilities and their representative organizations. The convention on the rights of persons with disabilities is a tool for our work on both human rights and development. It's recognition is one of the sources of its strength. One of the most widely ratified international treaty, the convention has inspired action. It is encouraging that many countries have already reviewed their legislation including in adopting nondiscrimination legislation in employment, providing services to support those with disabilities, and taking concrete steps to move from separate specialized schools to more inclusive educational environment.

The paralympic games have brought triumph into our screen and our hearts. People with all types of disabilities are more aware of their rights and more determined to fight for them. We have come a long way since 2006, but there is still much more to be done. Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, on the ground, there are continued inequalities between people with and without disabilities, affecting access to education and employment and economic, social, and political participation. We all know the statistics, the staggering number of children with disabilities out of school, the employment gap affecting persons with disabilities.