Recent Development of the UN Standard Rules and
International Movements on Disability Issues

Hessa Khalifa Al-Thani
UN Special Rapporteur on Disability , 26th February 2004 Tokyo - Japan

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Presentation Content:

    • Many persons with disabilities often suffer from discrimination due to prejudice or ignorance.
    • The may also lack access to essential services which affects not only persons with disabilities and their families, but also the economic and social development of the entire societies.
    • For that reason, assistance from the entire international community is needed to put an end to this “silent emergency”.
  2. The concern of the UN for the wellbeing and rights of persons with disabilities is rooted in its founding principles, which are based on human rights.
  3. The major outcomes of the Decade of Disabled Persons was the adoption of the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities by the General Assembly in 1994.
  4. The Standard Rules
    • Represent a strong moral and political commitment of governments to take action to attain equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities.
    • It outline a process to identify and remove obstacles to full participation.
    • This is done by empowering Persons with Disabilities and creating an accessible societies.
  5. The Standard Rules
    22 Different Rules
    1. Preconditions for Participation
    2. Target Areas For Equal Participation
    3. Implementation Measures
    4. Monitoring Mechanism
  6. Preconditions for Equal Participation
    Aiming toward empowering persons with disabilities through reducing individual limitations and increase independence.
    • Rule 1. Awareness-raising
    • Rule 2. Medical care
    • Rule 3. Rehabilitation
    • Rule 4. Support services
  7. Target Areas for Equal Participation
    Deals with all the various aspects of access to physical environment, activities, and services generally available to nondisabled persons. “Emphasizing mainstreaming”
    • Rule 5. Accessibility
    • Rule 6. Education
    • Rule 7. Employment
    • Rule 8. Income maintenance and social security
    • Rule 9. Family life and personal integrity
    • Rule 10. Culture
    • Rule 11. Recreation and sports
    • Rule 12. Religion
  8. Implementation Measures
    Presents measures well known in social engineering having to do with research, information, law, planning, economic policies, etc.
    • Rule 13. Information and research
    • Rule 14. Policy-making and planning
    • Rule 15. Legislation
    • Rule 16. Economic policies
    • Rule 17. Coordination of work
    • Rule 18. Organizations of PWD
    • Rule 19. Personnel training
    • Rule 20. National monitoring and evaluation of disability program in the implementation of the Rules
    • Rule 21. Technical and economic cooperation
    • Rule 22. International cooperation
  9. Monitoring Mechanism
    • T The purpose of the monitoring is further the effective implementation of the Standard Rules.
    • The framework for monitoring activities involves a Special Rapporteur and a Panel of Experts created by the major international organizations of persons with disabilities.
  10. Recent Developments …
    • The International Year of Disabled Persons started to promote a shift in thinking away from the old medical and charitable models of disability towards emphasizing a rights-based perspective.
    • A long time in the real victory came with the clear position taken by the UN Commission on Human Rights in a series of resolutions.
    • The UN Human Rights Commission recently passed a Resolution on the Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
    • "Recognizes that any violation of the fundamental principle of equality or any discrimination or other negative differential treatment of persons with disabilities inconsistent with the United Nations Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities is an infringement of the human rights of persons with disabilities"
    • In the development of human rights for persons with disabilities, the Standard Rules have been recognized as a Yardstick for measures to put an end to exclusion and discrimination of persons with disabilities.
    • To turn the recognition of disability as a human rights issue into practical action, the former Special Rapporteur Mr. Lindqvist has suggested that the emphasis should be on updating the Standard Rules.
  11. The Proposed Supplement
    • There are weaknesses on the Standard Rules, as many dimensions of disability policy have not been adequately included, for example, specific issues concerning children, gender discrimination, people with developmental and psychiatric disabilities and refugees.
    • A proposed supplement to the Standard Rules document was presented to the Commission on Social Development in the final report of the former Special Rapporteur.
  12. The supplement was drafted with the participation of several organizations, individual experts, and the panel of experts. It focuses on the most vulnerable among children and adults with disabilities.
    1. Adequate standard of living and poverty alleviation
    2. Housing, including the issue of residential institutions
    3. Health and medical care
    4. Communication issues, including information and communication technology, sign language and other communication needs
    5. Gender
    6. Children with disabilities and the family
    7. Violence and abuse
    8. Older persons
    9. Developmental and psychiatric disabilities
    10. Invisible disabilities.
  13. In addition to strengthening the Rules, the creation of an international human rights convention specifically addressing the rights of persons with disabilities should be pursued.
  14. Rights of Persons with Disabilities ..
    • “Holistic Approach”
      Based on the work done in the field of social development, human rights and nondiscrimination.
    • “ Multi-track Approach”
      Promote the development of a thematic treaty while enhancing the disability dimension within the UN human rights monitoring system related to the existing human rights treaties.
  15. Holistic Approach
    • It has been pointed out that the Standard Rules main weakness is that they are not legally binding.
    • The measures needed within the regular United Nations monitoring system for effective protection of the human rights of persons with disabilities will never really be put in place.
    • Mainstreaming will not be sufficient to strengthen the rights of persons with disabilities.
    • Disability will not really be recognized and accepted as a human rights issue until a convention has been adopted.
  16. Multi-track Approach
    • The Standard Rules would support the monitoring of human rights within the UN monitoring systems and would serve as a reference document.
    • Support specific initiatives aimed at the empowerment of persons with disabilities through mainstreaming.
    • Improve cooperation between United Nations bodies in the field of Disability; and continued monitoring of policy development.
    • The Multi-track approach illustrates the fact that disability is a cross-cutting issue, and that people with disabilities have special problems and needs that must be addressed.
  17. Recent Developments in the Convention
    • The Drafting Working Group on Disability Convention meeting on 5-16 January 2004
    • The Working Group task , as mandated by the Ad Hoc Committee, was to prepare and present a draft text which would be the basis for negotiations at the Ad Hoc Committee.
    • The Working Group was not mandated to negotiate a final text, and was not tasked with being a drafting committee.
  18. Accordingly, the draft text prepared and presented by the Working Group represents the outcome of discussion, and not the position of any particular delegation in the Working Group.
    At its 20th meeting, on 16 January, the Working Group decided to present the annexed text to the Ad Hoc Committee as a basis for negotiations as well as to append the "Summary of the discussions held regarding the issue of international cooperation to be considered by the Ad Hoc Committee"
  19. Commission for Social Development 42nd Session 4-13 February 2004
    Resolution: E/CN.5/2004/L.5
    “ Welcomes the contributions of the Special Rapporteur on Disability of the Commission to the process of negotiation of a draft convention and requests the Special Rapporteur further to contribute and participate in the work of the Ad Hoc Committee, bearing in mind the experience in the monitoring of the Standard Rules and in collaboration with the Secretariat by, inter alia, providing her views on the elements to be considered in the convention and promoting awareness about the process among Governments and civilsociety”.


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