COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES OPENS FIFTH SESSION

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities opened its fifth session this morning, hearing an address from Marcia Kran, Director of the Research and Right to Development Division of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. During the meeting, eight new Committee members took the solemn declaration, the Committee re-elected Ron McCallum as Chairperson and Committee officers adopted a report on activities that have taken place since the last session as well as the agenda and programme of work.

During the meeting, the following eight Committee members then took the solemn declaration: Theresia Degener, Gabor Gombos, Fatiha Hadj-Salah, Stig Langvad, Silvia, Judith Quan-Chang, Carlos Rios Espinsosa, Hyung Shik Kim, and Damjan Tatic. The Committee held elections for its bureau and elected the following members: Maria Soledad Cisteras Reyes, Edah Wangechi Maina, and Jia Yang as Vice-Chairpersons and Theresia Degener as Rapporteur.

In remarks before the Committee, Marcia Kran, Director of the Research and Right to Development Division of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the Convention had reached an impressive level of ratifications in a short period of time and this meant that the work of the Committee would significantly increase. The review of State party reports was very much the core of their work and it offered States the opportunity to have a constructive dialogue with experts and identify good practices to bridge gaps in implementation. The concluding observations issued by the Committee not only helped States, they also assisted national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations in supporting governments in implementation of the Convention. Ms. Kran encouraged the Committee to make clear and concrete recommendations because this would better help States in the implementation and monitoring of the Convention.

Ms. Kran also noted that a lack of resources was being used by States as a reason for not ratifying the Convention, and the Committee could play an important role in making sure that limited resources did not become an obstacle to the implementation of the Convention and the progressive realization of economic, social and cultural rights and civil and political rights of persons with disabilities. Ms. Kran said she was keen to deepen and expand her department’s impact on and cooperation with colleagues in the field and she felt that her department could help the Committee in its work in various ways. For example, Ms. Kran said her department was working with UNICEF and other partners to establish a multi-donor trust fund to help countries in the ratification and implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It was also important that the Convention be relied upon as a guide for humanitarian development and assistance and the General Assembly would hold a high level meeting in 2012 on strengthening the rights of persons with disabilities at all levels of development. Other important projects for 2011 included the development of a legislative handbook and training materials to help lawmakers promote consistent use of the Convention.

In the ensuing discussion, the Committee Secretary updated the Committee on how many countries had ratified the Convention since their last meeting in October 2010. In the ensuing six months the European Union, Romania, Sierra Leone, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Togo had ratified the Convention while St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Togo and Turkmenistan had ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention. A Committee member said that they had almost 100 ratifications and asked if there were any plans to commemorate this milestone when it happened. The Committee Secretary said that they in fact had a press release ready for this eventuality and they would mark the occasion in various ways. Another Expert asked what the plans were for reviewing country reports for the rest of the year and whether the Committee would be able to review more than one country per session. The Committee Chairperson said that they had asked for the resources to meet for two-week sessions and in this way they could review three to four countries per session.

During the discussion with UN bodies, non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions, speakers noted that the disaster in Japan had highlighted the importance of implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Another issue that was raised was that of capacity building in States, who often said they did not have the expertise to implement and monitor the Convention.

The next public meeting of the Committee will be at 4:30 p.m. when it will continue its discussion with non-governmental organizations.

Statements

RON MCCALLUM, Acting Chairperson of the Committee, said he was excited about the fifth session because the Committee now had its full complement of 18 members and they would be reviewing their first State party report during this session when they considered the initial report of Tunisia on Tuesday; they were now a fully fledged Committee. Mr. McCallum welcomed representatives of States parties and non-governmental organizations and after the eight new Committee members took the solemn oath, Mr. McCallum welcomed them to the Committee. The report of the Chairperson on inter-sessional activities, detailing the activities of Committee members between sessions, was then adopted.

MARCIA KRAN, Director of the Research and Right to Development Division of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said this was a significant session for the Committee as it was the first attended by all 18 members and she extended a warm and enthusiastic welcome to the newly elected members. The Convention had reached an impressive level of ratification in a short period of time and this meant that the work of the Committee would significantly increase. The review of reports was very much the core of their work and it offered States the opportunity to have a constructive dialogue with experts and identify good practices to bridge gaps in implementation. The concluding observations issued by the Committee not only helped States, they also assisted national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations in supporting governments in implementation of the Convention. Ms. Kran encouraged the Committee to make clear and concrete recommendations because this would better help States in the implementation and monitoring of the Convention.

She noted that a lack of resources was being used as a reason by States parties to not ratify the Convention, and the Committee could play an important role in making sure that limited resources did not become an obstacle to the implementation of the Convention and the progressive realization of economic, social and cultural rights and civil and political rights for persons with disabilities. Ms. Kran said she was keen to deepen and expand her department’s impact on and cooperation with colleagues in the field and she felt that her department could help the Committee in its work in various ways. For example, Ms. Kran said her department was working with UNICEF and other partners to establish a multi-donor trust fund to help countries in the ratification and implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It was also important that the Convention be relied upon as a guide for humanitarian development and assistance and the General Assembly would hold a high level meeting in 2012 on strengthening the rights of persons with disabilities at all levels of development. Other important projects for 2011 included the development of a legislative handbook and training materials to help lawmakers promote consistent use of the Convention.

Turning to accessibility at the United Nations, Ms. Kran said the Convention was not only for States parties, but it was also about adopting these standards at the UN, including in the areas of translation and documentation. The High Commissioner had set up a taskforce to look into these issues and the meetings of this Committee would serve as a pilot case for the taskforce in terms of implementing the Convention internally. Ms. Kran then pointed out that several accessibility improvements had been made at the Palais Wilson. On the issue of treaty body strengthening, Ms. Kran said that States had increased ratification and reporting under international human rights treaties as a result of the Universal Periodic Review. Indeed, the treaty body system had become a victim of its own success with hundreds of State party reports being reviewed every year and the High Commissioner had asked for stakeholders to reflect on ways and means to strengthen the system by making it more efficient and effective, and this process of consultations and intense reflection would continue in the coming months. Progress had already been made in terms of enhanced cooperation between national human rights institutions and treaty bodies. The High Commissioner would issue a report in early 2012 that would reflect on all the recommendations received from this process.

In conclusion, Ms. Kran said that persons with disabilities often remained invisible and their rights ignored. The move from a charity-based to a human rights-based approach espoused in the Convention was one that was still not widely understood. The Committee had a daunting task before it, the importance of which could not be over-emphasized, and Ms. Kran wished them luck and pledged the High Commissioner’s support in their efforts.

Discussion with Committee Members

The Committee Secretary updated the Committee on how many countries had ratified the Convention since their last meeting in October 2010. In the ensuing six months the European Union, Romania, Sierra Leone, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Togo had ratified the Convention while St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Togo and Turkmenistan had ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention. A Committee member said that they had almost 100 ratifications and asked if there were any plans to commemorate this milestone when it happened. The Committee Secretary said that they in fact had a press release ready for this eventuality and they would mark the occasion in various ways. Another Expert asked what the plans were for reviewing country reports for the rest of the year and whether the Committee would be able to review more than one country per session. The Committee Chairperson said that they had asked for the resources to meet for two-week sessions and in this way they could review three to four countries per session.

Discussion with UN Bodies and Non-Governmental Organizations

AHIKO OTO, of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, gave a short briefing on the department’s recent activities in promoting the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Department of Economic and Social Affairs worked on promoting the inclusion of and mainstreaming the rights of persons with disabilities in the international development agenda. They were preparing for the commemoration of the 100th ratification in New York when they reached that milestone and they were very much looking forward to this. They still had a great deal of work to do however, and they had been speaking with governments about what help they needed in order to ratify and implement the Convention. The governments often said they lacked the expertise for implementation and monitoring and this seemed to be a major challenge in many countries, as well as a lack of reliable data on persons with disabilities, which led to invisibility of these persons. There was a huge gap between policy and practice. All development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, had a direct impact on persons with disabilities. In terms of the latest General Assembly resolution, it called for the further mainstreaming of the issue of disabilities in the Millennium Development Goals and other development goals in advance of the high level meeting that would take place in 2012 in New York. They had also taken the initiative to organize various events including panels on mainstreaming disability perspectives.

NAGASE OSAMU, of the Japan Chapter of the International Disability Alliance, updated the Committee on the situation in Japan since the earthquake and tsunami a month ago and implications for the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. He took the opportunity to thank people for their outpouring of support and he apologized for the environmental damage caused by the radioactive leak. In the town of Miyagi he could not believe his eyes when he saw the devastation in the coastal towns, but he was struck by the determination of persons with disabilities, their family members and supporters and the public in general to meet this great challenge. Reasonable accommodation and community support services were lacking and cases of exclusion and discrimination were present. The disaster had made existing exclusion more obvious and reminded them of the importance of putting the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities into practice. He hoped the lessons they were learning could contribute to the work of the Committee.

ROSEANGELA BERMAN BIELER, of UNICEF, said that they looked forward to supporting the work of the Committee and States parties toward the implementation of the Convention and UNICEF could be counted on as a partner in their work.

DIANE RIGLER, Director of the International Disability Alliance, said that they greatly appreciated the work of the Committee and were pleased to see the new members who had joined the Committee. They were trying to collaborate with all UN agencies to promote the work of the Convention and they were pleased to hear Ms. Kran speak of the multi-donor trust fund this morning as they had seeded this idea with the United Nations Development Programme. They were also very involved with capacity building.

For use of the information media; not an official record

CRPD11/002E