ILiS Do It Yourself Guide Number 2

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People (UNCRPD)

This ILiS DIY guide:

  • Introduces the UNCRPD.
  • Explains what the UNCRPD means.
  • Tells you how you can use it to help you gain your rights as a disabled person.
  • Tells you where to find more information.

The guide is in seven parts:

  1. What is the UNCRPD all about?
  2. When did this happen?
  3. How can the UNCRPD help me?
  4. What does the UNCRPD say?
  5. How can I use the Convention?
  6. Checklist for action
  7. Where can I get more information?
  1. What is the UNCRPD all about?

The UNCRPD or “the Convention” is an important international standard of rights and treatment of disabled people. Disabled people helped develop the Convention. The Convention was developed by the United Nations (UN). The UN is a way for many countries in the world to work together.

The Convention has two parts.

Part 1 is the Convention. This describes the rights of disabled people. It says what countries must do to promote and protect rights.The Convention uses human rights. It uses the social model of disability.

The Convention says that all disabled people must enjoy all human rights and freedoms. There are two formal ways to make sure that that the Convention agreements are carried out:

a) The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a special committee of independent experts. It has powers to demand reports and action from countries that have signed the Convention.

b) The Conference of States Partiesis made up of government representatives. It meets to look at how the Convention is being used. It also looks at how the Convention should develop in future.

Part 2 is the Optional Protocol to the Convention. This agreement adds two actions to make the Convention stronger. The actions give greater powers to disabled people.These are:

  1. Individuals can bring petitions to the Committee if they think their rights have been taken away.
  1. The Committee has the power to carry out inquiries if they think countries have not been respecting the Convention.
  1. When did the UNCRPD happen?

The UN General Assembly adopted the Convention in December 2006. Both parts of the Convention became the law in the UK in August 2009. This means it is now part of the legal system in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

  1. How can the UNCRPD help me?

The Convention makes it clear that the rights of disabled people are human rights. It aims to make disabled people’s human rights much stronger.

The Convention tries to change attitudes to disability. It says disabled people should be active members of society. This is also an essential principle of the Independent Living Movement.

  1. What does the UNCRPD say?

There are 17 key rights for disabled people:

Right to be treated equally (Article 5)

Right to life, freedom and safety (Articles 10+14)

Right to be treated fairly. Right to decisions and have help to do this if you need to (Article 12)

Right not to be treated badly (Article 15)

Right to be protected from violence and abuse (Article 16)

Right to think for yourself and make decisions (Article 17)

Right to decide where to live. Right to travel (Article 18)

Right to live in the community (Article 19)

Right to express yourself (Article 21)

Respect for privacy (Article 22)

Respect for home and the family (Article 23)

Right to education (Article 24)

Right to health (Article 25)

Right to work (Article 27)

Right to have a good standard of living (Article 28)

Right to take part in politics and public life (Article 29)

Right to have a social life (Article 30)

  1. How can I use the UNCRPD?

You musttry all the legal options in your own country before using UNCRPD. There are different ways that you can use the UNCRPD. Here are some examples of what individuals can do:

  • Take a personal petition to the Committee.

Any person from a country that has signed the optional protocol can take a petition to the UN.

  • Ask the Committee to do a special inquiry.

You can ask the Committee to have an independent look at the problem. They can make your country act on the Convention.

Organisationscan use petitions or ask for an inquiry. They can also:

  • Raise awarenessthat the Convention exists. Lobby the Government and public bodies
  • Challenge how things are being done:

The Government is expected to tell us who is responsible for the Convention. They must:

  1. Promote the human rights of disabled people.
  1. Stop discrimination against disabled people.
  1. Build the rights of disabled people into all policies and programmes.
  1. Research and develop accessible goods, services and technology. Encourage others to do this too.
  1. Provide information in accessible formats.
  1. Ensure people are trained on the rights.
  1. Involve disabled people in law, policies and in decision making.
  1. Checklist for action

The UN Committee has given 5 steps for action:

  • Do something now!
  • There needs to be training, awareness raising and sharing of information.
  • Disability should be part of all social development activities.
  • Organisations need to build the Convention principles into the way they do things.
  • Disabled people must be involved at every stage.
  1. Where can I get more information?

A lot of information is available online. Ask someone to help you find the information you need. Most websiteshave information in other formats. If they do not you couldask them to make their information accessible to everyone.

The UNCRPD has the full Convention and its reports on its website:

UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has lots of information:

Inspired Services have written an easy read version of the convention: easy read UNCRPD

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