Report of the second meeting of the Inter-Agency SupportGroup for the Convention on the Rights of Persons withDisabilities (IASG)

Summary
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol entered into force on 3 May 2008. Since its first meeting in December 2007, the IASG has adopted its terms of references and its Joint Statement of Commitment to the Convention. As of date 29 Countries have ratified the Convention and 127 have signed it and 17countries have ratified and 71 countries have signed the Optional Protocol.
The main objectives of the second meeting of the Group were threefold: to review current activities of agencies related to the Convention; to start developing a Strategy and Joint Plan of Action based on the Joint Statement of Commitment; and to start work on preparing a set of guidelines for UN country programming as requested by the United Nations Development Group. The attached document provides a summary of the meeting.

Contents

Paragraphs / Page
Background / 1 / 3
Participants / 2 / 3
Session 1. / 3 / 3
A.Opening and thematic discussion / 3 / 3
B.Information Exchange on work undertaken by agencies on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities / 6 / 4
Session 2. Strategy and Action Plan: The Way Forward / 22 / 12
A.Framework for the Strategy and action Plan / 22 / 12
B.Discussion of the six focus areas identified in the Statement of Commitment / 25 / 14
C.Other issues / 32 / 15
Session 3. Guidelines for UNCTs on the Convention / 34 / 15
A.Coordination with existing human rights guidelines to UNCTs / 34 / 16
B.Lessons learnt from the development of UNDG Guidelines on indigenous peoples issues / 37 / 17
C.Practical overview of UNCT expectations from Guidelines on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities / 39 / 18
D.Discussion on the structure and elements of the Guidelines for UNCTs on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities / 41 / 18
Session 4. Conclusions and recommendations / 42 / 19
A.Agreement on the drafting procedure for the Strategy and Action Plan as well as for the Guidelines for UNCTs on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities / 42 / 19
B.Agreement on the third meeting of IASG for CRPD / 44 / 19
C.Other potential areas of work for IASG for CRPD / 45 / 19

Background

  1. The second meeting of the Interagency Support Group for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (IASG) was held in Geneva from 19 to 20 June 2008. The second meeting was convened and hosted by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and co-chaired by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs Department, which together constitute the joint Secretariat of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The objectives of the meeting were threefold: to review current activities of agencies related to the Convention; to start developing a Strategy and Joint Plan of Action based on the Joint Statement of Commitment; and to start work on preparing a set of guidelines for UN country programming as requested by the United Nations Development Group. The attached document provides a summary of the meeting. The agenda of the session and the background note is contained in Annex 1 to the present report.

Participants

  1. Representatives of the following United Nations and other intergovernmental agencies, funds and programmes and departments attended: International Labour Organization (ILO), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), World Bank, World Health Organizations (WHO), Regional Commission Africa (ECA), Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), represented by United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), United Nations Secretariat Department of Management (DM), UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Session 1.

A.Opening and thematic discussion

  1. The Deputy High Commissioner, Ms. Kyung-wha Kang opened the meeting welcoming the level of engagement of all United Nations agencies with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Since the first meeting in December 2007 the CRPD and its Optional Protocol thereto have entered into force and the Conference of States parties will elect the members of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in autumn 2008, which will meet early in 2009. The IASG for the CRPD has made significant progress towards joint UN action on the Convention by adopting a joint Statement of Commitment. Now is the time to identify the practical steps to ensure that Commitment moves to action. Therefore, during this second meeting, IASG members will work to develop a practical strategy and a plan of action as well as to develop Guidelines on the Convention for UN Country Teams. This year, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities has the theme of the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Making the linkage between the Universal Declaration and the CRPD sends a powerful message. It underlines the shift towards a rights-based approach. Human rights are about human dignity, individual freedoms and entitlements, and State obligations, thus about empowerment. The focus of our strategy must be about the empowerment of persons with disabilities not about disability itself. Our joint work is to spell out the concrete steps to materialize the Convention and to support persons with disabilities to enjoy their rights and States to fullfil their obligations.
  1. Mr. Simon Walker, OHCHR Human Rights and Disability Advisor welcomed IASG members and introduced the agenda for the meeting and the working documents that had been circulated in preparation for the meeting.
  1. Ms. Nicola Shepherd of the DESA summarized the work of the IASG for CRPD since its establishment and outlined the Group’s mandate and immediate tasks. She noted that since the first meeting in December 2007, the IASG has reached an agreement about the terms of reference for the group, and after several drafting sessions the IASG adopted the “Joint Statement of Commitment to the Convention,” which was released on 30 March 2008, one year after the opening for signature of the Convention. She reminded the group that the United Nations Chief Executives Board (CEB) had mandated the Group to work within the spirit and letter of the Convention to support the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all aspects of society; that the group should be composed of high level staff working at the policy level and that our inter-agency work on the Convention needs to be linked to other inter-agency mechanisms on human rights and development; workshops and training materials will be an essential factor to effectively mobilize the field and headquarters staff and the most appropriate agencies are encouraged to take the lead in priority areas of action; equally important the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the UN itself is an explicit expectation created by the Convention. She also explained the main objectives of the meeting; namely the begin the process of developing a strategy and action plan as well as guidelines for UN country teams on the Convention.

B.Information Exchange on work undertaken by agencies on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

  1. Ms. Debra Perry from ILO Geneva noted that the main areas of ILO work on the Convention involved awareness raising on its provisions and steps needed for implementation through the development of standards, publications, research, advocacy initiatives and technical cooperation. ILO has been promoting equality of opportunities of persons with disabilities in employment though the promotion of it standards,[1] and the development of publications such as: The right to decent work of persons with disabilities; legislation guidelines,[2] a curriculum on disability and employment promotion legislation; other guides promoting employment opportunities; a good practice guide on Skills Development through Community-Based Rehabilitation; She also noted that the ILO Bureau for Statistics has agreed to advocate for the inclusion of questions on persons with disabilities in labour market surveys. In the area of research ILO is also carrying out a preliminary study on the national costs of exclusion in selected countries, on the status of inclusive vocational training and on trade union practices related to persons with disabilities. ILO is also actively advocating for decent work for persons with disabilities through the organization of sub regional meetings on this topic in Asia in cooperation with OHCHR and in Africa and celebrating 2007 International day of persons with disabilities. ILO also conducted a two-day pilot disability equality training programme in ILO International Training Centre. At the Country level, ILO has actively promoted the Convention and has developed technical cooperation disability specific projects in Cambodia, African and Asia. In addition, ILO has mainstreamed disability in other projects that address general population and is encouraging further mainstreaming of a disability perspective in ILO tools of action.
  1. Ms. Gisela Thater, legal officer of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) explained that UNCHR efforts to strengthen the protection of persons with disabilities falls within UNHCR various areas of work. She noted that UNHCR age, gender and diversity mainstreaming strategy seeks to empower minority and marginalized groups including persons with disabilities. Regarding UNHCR work on identification, and registration, UNHCR has recently revised its risk identification tool, which now includes specific categoriesrelating to persons with disabilities, which will permit identifying those at risk. UNHCR has also established a working group on disability focusing primarily on planning and programming issues, including accessibility of headquarters buildings. In addition, UNHCR together with the Women’s Commission on Refugee Women and Children, has undertaken research on refugees and displaced persons with disabilities in five of its operations in the field. In the area of planning and programming, UNHCR continues to incorporate disability related issues into policy guidelines and handbooks,[3] and discussions with the Executive Committee about the possibility of developing a thematic conclusion on “Persons of concern for UNHCR with disabilities” continue. She noted that some UNHCR operations are providing refugees with disabilities with assistive devices and targeted food assistance where they cannot access food distribution points and are including children with disabilities in their education programs. She also noted that field operations have identified several challenges in including persons with disabilities in their livelihood programs.
  1. Ms. Alexandra Yuster, Senior Adviser, Child Protection and Global Disability Focal Point, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), informed the Group that in 2007 UNICEF had issued conceptual guidelines on inclusion of children with disabilities to ensure that disability is mainstreamed cross UNICEF’s areas of work, including in policy, advocacy and programming. She noted that UNICEF’s work on disability is being done in 33 countries, mainly in the areas of inclusive education, data collection, health, child protection and awareness and promotion of the Convention. With regard to inclusive education UNICEF works to ensure that children’s with disabilities access schools and that inclusive education is part of education reform efforts. UNICEF also collects data through Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, which include a special module on children with disabilities. She noted that colleagues had expressed the need to increase work in the area of early identification, screening and follow-up of children with disabilities. UNICEF is increasingly getting involved in the area of social protection through global dialogue on social protection, which gives an opportunity to work on disability related issues as well as in its work on child protection, which includes efforts to ensure that services are available for children with disabilities and their families, to move away from residential care. UNICEF has produced a child friendly version of the Convention in English, French and Spanish which has been widely distributed and translated in other languages. Last and in view of the imminent establishment of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, she referred to UNICEF’s positive and extensive experience in working with the Committee on the Rights of the Child to lobby at the country level for the realization of the rights of the child.
  1. Mr. Lance Clark, UN Resident Coordinator in Serbia, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) noted that while UNDP had been engaged in actions to support persons with disabilities for many years, in recent years most of this work in-country has been on an ad hoc basis. However, in 2007 mention of persons with disabilities was officially included in UNDPs upcoming global five year strategy (which is entitled “Inclusive Development”), and the Administrator followed this in January 2008 with a message to UNDP staff globally confirming the importance of this subject for UNDP, and flagging the importance of promoting ratification and implementation of the CRPD. An internal UNDP Task Force on Persons with Disabilities, based in New York, has been established, with one strong focus being on accessibility and human resources issues, including proactive recruitment of persons with disabilities. He explained that at the regional level, the UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS (RBEC) has put in place a regional Action Plan, and on 17-18 June 2008 held the first Regional Workshop in Zagreb for key staff involved in this field. UNDP sees its work in this area in particular linked to capacity development for Government and civil society, and sees increased actions in areas including poverty reduction, democratic governance, gender issues, and human rights. He noted the importance of UN Country Teams using the ratification of the CRPD in-country as a vehicle for promoting increased and more effective work across the range of subjects included in the Convention. He flagged that the UNCT in Serbia is finalizing plans for a Strategic Advocacy Campaign to promote changes in the “mentality” of many in the country about disabilities, to further empower disabled persons organizations (DPO’s), and to build partnerships between DPOs, the UN, the Government, the business community, and others. He noted the surprising lack of any explicit methodology by the UN agencies for such strategic advocacy campaigns (as opposed to public relations campaigns, which are a component of such a larger effort, and for which methodologies do exist).
  1. Ms Aiko Akiyama of UN ESCAP explained that it has been actively working on the rights of persons with disabilities through the framework of the Asian Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons. Regarding their work on the CRPD, she noted the recent collaboration with OHCHR and ILO in organizing a commemorative event for the entry into force of the Convention. Prior to the event, ESCAP Commission resolution 64/8 was adopted and it requests ESCAP to support States efforts to ratify and implement the Convention as well as to improve its accessibility. To this end, UNESCAP is assessing its Website with a view to make it accessible for persons with disabilities and is also carrying out CRPD awareness raising activities at the country level, such as in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. ESCAP is in the process of finalizing a regional study on anti-discrimination laws on disability and is also building the capacity of statisticians in the region through the organization of workshops and the publishing of a manual on data collection on disability in collaboration with WHO. For the coming period, ESCAP will establish itself as an information hub on disability related policies. Towards the end, it will open up a web-based country profile on disability policy after August 2008. In terms of issues, ESCAP will be focusing on the theme of accessibility. In 2009, it will organize a conference on accessible tourism in Japan and will develop videos and guidelines on it. ESCAP will also continue to raise awareness on the Convention and on its effective implementation and to facilitate a regional inter- agency exchange of information on their work on the Convention. She noted that working level professionals and persons with disabilities in the region are not yet familiar with the concepts and content of the CRPD, partly due to language barriers. In this regard, ESCAP is planning on publishing a guide book to promote the understanding and implementation of the CRPD in future. Lastly, she mentioned that, together with WHO, UNESCAP will organize a regional conference on community based rehabilitation in December 2008.
  1. Mr. Kenneth Eklindh Senior Programme Specialist of UNESCO referred to the 2008 Global Action Week on Education which focused on quality education and exclusion. UNESCO used this forum to bring inclusion and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to the discussion. UNESCO has also sent information materials on the Convention to all its regional offices, and has prepared a 20 minutes DVD on article 24 of the Convention on the right of persons with disabilities to education.