Pacific Disability Forum, World Blind Union, World Federation of the Deaf

International Disability Alliance (IDA)

Member Organisations:

Arab Organization of Persons with Disabilities, Down Syndrome International, European Disability Forum, Inclusion International, International Federation of Hard of Hearing People, Latin American Network of Non-Governmental organizations of Persons with Disabilities and their Families,

Pacific Disability Forum, World Blind Union, World Federation of the Deaf,

World Federation of the DeafBlind, World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry

IDA’s Compilation of the CRPD Committee’s Concluding Observations

Indigenous Persons with Disabilities

Argentina Other languages: A C F R S (Adopted in September 2012)

Australia Other languages: A C F R S (Adopted in September 2013)

Bolivia Other languages (Adopted in September 2016)

Brazil Other languages (Adopted in September 2015)

Colombia Other languages (Adopted in September 2016)

Costa Rica Other languages: A C F R S (Adopted in April 2014)

Ecuador Other languages: A C F R S (Adopted in October 2014)

El Salvador Other languages: A C F R S (Adopted in September 2013)

Gabon Other languages (Adopted in September 2015)

Guatemala Other languages (Adopted in September 2016)

Kenya Other languages (Adopted in September 2015)

Mexico Other languages: A C F R S (Adopted in October 2014)

Paraguay Other languages: ACFRS (Adopted in April 2013)

Peru Other languages: A C F S (Adopted in April 2012)

Sweden Other languages: A C F R S (Adopted in April 2014)

Thailand Other languages (Adopted in April 2016)

Uganda Other languages (Adopted in April 2016)

Argentina (CRPD/C/ARG/CO/1)

11. The Committee notes with concern that neither the concept of reasonable accommodation nor recognition that the denial of such accommodation is a form of discrimination are explicitly included in anti-discrimination laws or in the laws on, among other things, employment, health and education. It also wishes to express its concern at the lack of simplified judicial and administrative remedies that would allow persons with disabilities to report cases of discrimination on grounds of disability. The Committee is concerned at the lack of information on measures and actions designed to address the specific situations of persons with disabilities who belong to indigenous peoples and of deaf-blind persons.

12. The Committee urges the State party to incorporate the concept of reasonable accommodation into its anti-discrimination legislation and to ensure that the relevant laws and regulations define the denial of reasonable accommodation as a form of discrimination on grounds of disability. The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to simplify existing judicial and administrative remedies in order to enable persons with disabilities to report acts of discrimination to which they have been subjected. The Committee also recommends that the State party devote special attention to the development of policies and programmes for persons with disabilities who belong to indigenous peoples and for deaf-blind persons with a view to putting an end to the many forms of discrimination to which these persons may be subjected.

38. The Committee recommends that the State party develop a comprehensive State education policy that guarantees the right to inclusive education and allocates sufficient budgetary resources to ensure progress towards the establishment of an education system that includes students with disabilities. The Committee also urges the State party to intensify its efforts to ensure that all children with disabilities receive a full compulsory education as established by the State party, while devoting particular attention to indigenous peoples and other rural communities. It likewise urges the State party to take the necessary steps to ensure that pupils with disabilities who attend special schools are enrolled in inclusive schools and to offer reasonable adjustments for students with disabilities within the general education system.

49. The Committee would like to express its recognition of the State party for the work it has begun in order to conduct the second national disability survey and to underscore the importance of compiling up-to-date data which will provide an accurate picture of the situation of specific groups of persons with disabilities who may be subject to multiple forms of exclusion, particularly women, children, institutionalized persons, those who have been deprived of legal capacity and those belonging to indigenous peoples.

Australia (CRPD/C/AUS/CO/1)

14. The Committee is concerned that the scope of protected rights and grounds of discrimination in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 is narrower than under the Convention and does not provide the same level of legal protection to all persons with disabilities.

15. The Committee recommends the State party to strengthen anti-discrimination laws to address intersectional discrimination and to guarantee the protection from discrimination on the grounds of disability to explicitly cover all persons with disabilities including children, indigenous people, women and girls, hearing impaired, deaf, and people with psychosocial disabilities.

53. The Committee regrets the low level of disaggregated data collected and publically reported on persons with disabilities. It further regrets that there is little data about the specific situation of women and girls with disability, in particular indigenous women and girls with disabilities.

54. The Committee recommends that the State party develops nationally consistent measures for data collection and public reporting of disaggregated data across the full range of obligations contained in the Convention, and that all data be disaggregated by age, gender, type of disability, place of residence and cultural background. It further recommends that the State party commissions and funds a comprehensive assessment of the situation of girls and women with disability, in order to establish a baseline of disaggregated data against which future progress towards the Convention can be measured.

55. The Committee regrets that the situation of children with disabilities is not reflected in the data on the protection of children. It further regrets the paucity of information on children with disabilities, in particular data on indigenous children, alternative care for children with disabilities and children with disabilities living in remote or rural areas.

Bolivia (CRPD/C/BOL/CO/1)

5. The Committee is concerned that the Constitution does not recognize persons with disabilities as full holders of all human rights, but rather considers them as in need of protection.

6. The Committee recommends that the State party review its entire legislation, including the Constitution, with a view to adopting laws that recognize persons with disabilities as full holders of all human rights.

7. The Committee is concerned that the criteria used in certifying disability continue to reflect the medical model and take no account of the barriers facing persons with disabilities or of the human rights-based model. It is also concerned that the procedure for obtaining a certificate of disability is complicated and expensive for the majority of persons with disabilities, especially those living in rural areas and indigenous communities, with the result that disability is vastly underreported.

47. The Committee is concerned that universal registration of all persons with disabilities is not guaranteed and that newborns with disabilities are less likely to receive identity documents, which impedes their access to basic services. It is also concerned that not enough information is provided to families in this regard.

48. The Committee urges the State party to guarantee all persons with disabilities the right to be registered, and to train the staff of official institutions to register all persons with disabilities, particularly in indigenous communities and in remote and rural areas.

55. The Committee is concerned at the low school enrolment and high dropout rates of persons with disabilities, and at the fact that most of those who are enrolled are in special, segregated schools.

56. The Committee urges the State party to:

(a) Adopt, implement and oversee policies on inclusive, quality education throughout its territory;

(b) Promote the enrolment of all persons with disabilities, especially women and children, members of indigenous communities and those living in remote and rural areas;

64. The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to guarantee an adequate standard of living for persons with disabilities and their families, especially those living in poverty, who are unemployed or who do not have a fixed income, in particular those in rural and remote areas, those who belong to indigenous communities, women and older persons, and to cover the added cost of living caused by disability by, inter alia, reviewing social security measures, such as the solidarity allowance, with a view to extending the coverage to all persons with disabilities. The Committee further recommends that the State party be guided by article 28 of the Convention in its efforts to achieve targets 1.3 and 1.4 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

78. The Committee requests the State party to submit, within 12 months from the adoption of these concluding observations and in accordance with article 35 (2) of the Convention, a report on the measures taken to give effect to the Committee’s recommendations contained in paragraphs 18 (on the deinstitutionalization of children with disabilities) and 48 (on the right of all persons with disabilities to be registered).

Brazil (CRPD/C/BRA/CO/1)

12. The Committee is concerned at the lack of measures to address discrimination against indigenous and Afro-descendant persons with disabilities. In particular, it is concerned about the isolation of indigenous communities that place persons with disabilities in extreme exclusion conditions.

13. The Committee recommends the State party to implement legislation, inter-sectorial policies and programmes to address the multiple forms of discrimination against indigenous and Afro-descendant persons with disabilities, in particular, to prevent persons with disabilities living in isolated indigenous communities or remote areas from being excluded.

21. The Committee recommends that the State party, in cooperation with organizations of persons with disabilities, undertake public awareness campaigns to reinforce the positive image of persons with disabilities as holders of all of the human rights enshrined in the Convention. The Committee also recommends the State party to provide training on the rights recognized in the Convention to all public authorities, and public and private professionals working with persons with disabilities. It also recommends to provide information on the Convention to persons with disabilities in special, indigenous persons with disabilities and their families.

50. The Committee is concerned that many persons with disabilities are living in poverty and have no access to resources for adequate standard of living; it is particularly concerned about persons with disabilities living in isolated indigenous communities, rural and remote areas who are exposed to exclusion and extreme poverty conditions.

51. The Committee recommends the State party to review the qualification requirements for social protection to ensure access for persons with disabilities who are living in poverty and enable them to cover expenses related to impairment, giving particular attention to those living in isolated indigenous communities, rural and remote areas.

56. The Committee is concerned that the State party does not systematically collect disaggregated data across all sectors according to sex, age, disability, indigenous peoples and geographic location.

Colombia (CRPD/C/COL/CO/1)

11. The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Establish and strengthen mechanisms for extensive and democratic consultation of organizations of persons with disabilities, including those that represent women and children and older persons with disabilities, and indigenous and Afro-Colombian persons with disabilities, when adopting policies and other matters that concern them, take into account the results of such consultations and reflect them in the decisions adopted;

16. The Committee is concerned about the limited measures taken to mainstream the disability perspective in the policies adopted by the High-level Presidential Advisory Office for Equality for Women and the national policy on women contained in CONPES social policy paper No. 161, and about the absence of the disability perspective in the policies and legislation designed to combat discrimination and gender-based violence.

17. The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Review the policies and strategies of the High-level Presidential Advisory Office for Equality for Women and the national policy on women contained in CONPES social policy paper No. 161 in order to better account for women with disabilities as a priority and in a cross-cutting manner;

(b) Incorporate the disability perspective in all the policies and strategies aimed at combating gender-based violence and take account of intersectional discrimination resulting from membership in Afro-Colombian, Raizal and indigenous communities, or from living in rural or remote areas;

(c) Be guided by article 6 of the Convention in pursuing targets 5.1, 5.2 and 5.5 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

19. The Committee urges the State party to more systematically gather data on children with disabilities and to take steps to prevent their abandonment, abuse and institutionalization. It encourages the State party to adopt a plan on the deinstitutionalization of children with disabilities, including those who are institutionalized on the basis of protection measures ordered by the Colombian Family Welfare Institute, and to provide community-based services and support to families, especially households headed by single mothers, in order to ensure the right of children with disabilities to grow up in a family environment and the right to have a family life. The Committee recommends that the State party repeal the provision in the Civil Code that authorizes adult childminders to correct and discipline children moderately and that it ban corporal punishment in any environment, including within the family and within indigenous and remote communities.

57. The Committee recommends that the State party:

(d) Provide the financial and human resources necessary to extend health care to all persons with disabilities, in particular those who are victims of armed conflict, women, children or older persons with disabilities; Afro-Colombian, Raizal or indigenous persons; living in rural and remote areas; or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex;

62. The Committee notes that the majority of persons with disabilities in situations of poverty and extreme poverty, particularly those who are women, children or older persons, Afro-Colombian, Raizal or indigenous, or living in rural or remote areas, do not receive assistance or benefit from social protection programmes on the basis of disability that address their disability and related additional costs, despite being at greater risk of poverty, exclusion and violations of their rights. It is also concerned about the absence of a disability perspective in the policy on free or social housing, particularly the limited access of persons with disabilities in these programmes and their lack of accessibility.