Abstract
The purpose of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) is to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity. Therefore, in this blog the rights of persons with disabilities are reviewed for better understanding.
Keywords: Disability, United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).
Introduction
It is estimated that over one billion people or 15% of the world’s population, have a disability. 80% live in developing countries. Some women, men and children with disabilities are fully integrated in society, and are participating in and actively contributing to all areas of life. However, the great majority face discrimination, exclusion, isolation and even abuse. Many persons with disabilities live in extreme poverty, in institutions, without education or employment opportunities and face a range of other marginalizing factors. In some countries they are denied the right to own property and it is common for persons with disabilities to be denied the right to make decisions for themselves. The discrimination they face is widespread, cutting across geographical boundaries and affecting people in all spheres of life and all sectors of society.
The entry into force of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and its Optional Protocol in May 2008 marked the beginning of a new era in the efforts “to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity” (Article 1). Although persons with disabilities have always been entitled to the same rights as everyone else, it is the first time that their rights are set out comprehensively in a binding international instrument.
The development of the UNCRPD reflects the shift that has taken place in the way disability and persons with disabilities are seen. Historically, disability has been considered to be a personal condition residing in the individual. As an individual deficit, the status of “being disabled” has been viewed as the natural cause for some people being unable to attend a regular school, get a job or participate in social life. When disability is perceived in this way, society’s responses are restricted to only one of two paths; that is, individuals can be “fixed” through medicine or rehabilitation (medical approach); or they can be cared for, through charity or welfare programmes (charity approach). According to this old model, the lives of persons with disabilities are handed over to professionals who control such fundamental decisions as where they will go to school, what support they will receive and where they will live.
Over the past few decades, there has been an important change in the way disability is understood. The focus is no longer on what is wrong with the person. Instead, disability is recognized as the consequence of the interaction of the individual with an environment that does not accommodate that individual’s differences and limits or impedes the individual’s participation in society. This approach is referred to as the social model of disability. The UNCRPD endorses this model and takes it forward by explicitly recognizing disability as a human rights issue.
From this perspective, the social, legal, economic, political and environmental conditions that act as barriers to the full exercise of rights by persons with disabilities need to be identified and overcome. For example, their marginalization and their exclusion from education are not the result of their inability to learn but of insufficient teacher training or inaccessible classrooms; their exclusion from the labour market might be due to a lack of transport to the workplace or negative attitudes among employers and colleagues that a person with disabilities is unable to work; and their inability to participate in public affairs might result from the lack of electoral material in accessible formats such as Braille or voting booths that are physically inaccessible to persons with disabilities.
Viewing disability from a human rights perspective involves an evolution in thinking and acting by States and all sectors of society so that persons with disabilities are no longer considered to be recipients of charity or objects of others’ decisions but holders of rights. A rights-based approach seeks ways to respect, support and celebrate human diversity by creating the conditions that allow meaningful participation by a wide range of persons, including persons with disabilities. Protecting and promoting their rights is not only about providing disability-related services. It is about adopting measures to change attitudes and behaviours that stigmatize and marginalize persons with disabilities. It is also about putting in place the policies, laws and programmes that remove barriers and guarantee the exercise of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights by persons with disabilities.
To achieve a genuine exercise of rights by PWDs, the policies, laws and programmes that limit rights of PWDs need to be modified or changed, such as: immigration laws that prohibit entry to a country based on disability; employment policies or laws that restrict PWDs; laws that prohibit persons with disabilities to marry; laws that allow the administration of medical treatment to persons with disabilities without their free and informed consent; laws that allow detention on the basis of mental or intellectual disability; and policies that deny medical care to a person because he or she has a disability. Moreover, programmes, awareness-raising and social support are necessary to change the way society operates and to dismantle the barriers that prevent persons with disabilities from participating fully in society. Furthermore, persons with disabilities need to be provided with the opportunities to participate fully in society and with the adequate means to claim their rights.
The Adoption of UNCRPD
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol (A/RES/61/106) was adopted on 13 December 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. It opened to signatures on 30th March 2007 and came into force on 3rd May 2008 following ratification by the 20th State party.
As of August 2021, the UNCRPD had 183 State parties and was the first Human Rights Treaty to be ratified by a regional integration organization, the European Union.
The UNCRPD adopts a broad categorization of persons with disabilities and reaffirms that all persons with all types of disabilities must enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms. It clarifies and qualifies how all categories of rights apply to persons with disabilities and identifies areas where adaptation have to be made for persons with disabilities to effectively exercise their rights and areas where their rights have been violated, and where protection of rights must be reinforced.
The UNCRPD is important because it:
1- Clarifies the rights of persons with disabilities;
2- Sets out responsibilities to respect those rights;
3- Requires a rights-based approach to disability;
4- Promotes inclusive and accessible development; and
5- Ensures national and international monitoring of rights.
Defining Disability
The Convention does not include a definition of disability or persons with disabilities in the strict sense but rather provides some guidance on the concept of “disability” and its relevance to the Convention. The preamble clearly endorses a social approach to disability—referred to as the social model of disability—by recognizing that “disability is an evolving concept and that disability results from interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinders their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others”. The explicit reference to the barriers that are external to the subject as constituting factors of disability represents an important step away from notions that equated disability to the existence of functional limitations.
Accordingly, Article 1 states that “Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others” (emphasis added). From this perspective, persons with disabilities’ participation in society—be it having a job, going to school, visiting a doctor or running for elections—is limited or excluded not because of their having an impairment, but because of various barriers, which might include physical barriers but also legislation and policies in some cases.
For persons with physical disabilities these barriers might include uneven terrains, steps to connect different levels, heavy doors or narrow passages. For example, a person using a wheelchair might be excluded from attending a meeting if the door to the meeting room is too narrow for the wheelchair to pass, or if there is no ramp or lift. The inexistence or inadequacy of accessibility standards in building codes could also amount to a barrier.
The UNCRPD does not preclude the use of definitions in national legislation and, in fact, definitions might be particularly necessary in some sectors, such as employment or social security. It is important, however, for such definitions to reflect the social model of disability enshrined in the UNCRPD and for definitions based on a list or a description of impairments or on functional limitations to be revised. Monitors should observe whether national legislation: (a) recognizes
that discrimination can occur in relation to mental, intellectual, sensory or physical impairments; (b) incorporates the social model by referring to disability as the result of the interaction between the person with an impairment and external barriers; (c) focuses on the prohibition of discrimination and the promotion of equality rather than on the categorization of various disabilities.
The UNCRPD’s Principles
Article 3 of the UNCRPD identifies a set of overarching and foundational principles. These guide the interpretation and implementation of the entire UNCRPD, cutting across all issues. They are the starting point for understanding and interpreting the rights of persons with disabilities, providing benchmarks against which each right is measured. The general principles enshrined in UNCRPD are as follows:
Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy including the freedom to make one’s own choices, and independence of persons,
Non-discrimination,
Full and effective participation and inclusion in society,
Respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities, as part of human diversity and humanity,
Equality of opportunity,
Accessibility,
Equality between men and women,
Respect for the evolving capacities of children with disabilities, and respect for the right of children with disabilities to preserve their identities.
What do these principles mean?
Inherent dignity refers to the worth of every person. When the dignity of persons with disabilities is respected, their experiences and opinions are valued and are formed without fear of physical, psychological or emotional harm. Respect for dignity is denied when, for example, workers who are blind are forced by their employer to wear a shirt with the word “blind” printed on the back.
Individual autonomy means to be in charge of one’s own life and to have the freedom to make one’s own choices. Respect for the individual autonomy of persons with disabilities means that persons with disabilities have, on an equal basis with others, reasonable life choices, are subject to minimum interference in their private life and can make their own decisions, with adequate support where required. The principle pervades the UNCRPD and underpins many of the freedoms that it explicitly recognizes, such as the freedom from non-consensual medical intervention and the requirement that health care should be provided on the basis of free and informed consent. From this perspective, for example, a person with mental disabilities should be offered a range of options for mental health care such as psychotherapy, counselling, peer support and psychiatric medication, and should have the freedom to make a meaningful choice based on personal preferences. Likewise, a landmine survivor with a physical impairment should be provided with devices that facilitate his or her personal mobility so that he or she can enjoy as much independence as possible.
The principle of non-discrimination means that all rights are guaranteed to everyone without distinction, exclusion or restriction
based on disability or on race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, age, or any other status. Discrimination on the basis of disability means any distinction, exclusion or restriction which has the purpose or effect of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, and includes the denial of reasonable accommodation. Discrimination occurs, for example when a woman is not allowed to open a bank account on the grounds that her disability would not allow her to manage her money. Discrimination also occurs when a man who was offered a job after an interview is later told to go home and wait for written confirmation from the administration after the employer realizes that the man has a visual impairment and needs to hold books very close to his eyes. The correspondence never arrives and the man never takes up the job. Persons with disabilities might also experience multiple forms of discrimination; for example, a woman with disabilities might experience discrimination on the basis of sex as well as disability. The recognition of the principle of non-discrimination in Article 3 of the UNCRPD underlines the importance of considering discrimination in all its forms.
Equality means creating societal conditions that respect difference, address disadvantages and ensure that all women, men, girls and boys participate fully on equal terms. Equality is denied when a girl with a disability is taken out of school by her parents. Despite her good grades, her parents decide that it is useless to spend money on her education because of her disability. Achieving equality sometimes requires additional measures such as the provision of assistance to persons with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities in order to support them in making decisions and in exercising their legal capacity on an
equal basis with others.
The concepts of full and effective participation and inclusion and accessibility mean that society, both in its public and in its private dimensions, is organized to enable all people to take part fully. Being fully included in society means that persons with disabilities are recognized and valued as equal participants. Their needs are understood as integral to the social and economic order and not identified as “special”. To achieve full inclusion, an accessible, barrierfree physical and social environment is necessary. For instance, full and effective participation and inclusion mean that political election processes do not exclude persons with disabilities, ensuring, for example, that voting locations are accessible and election procedures and materials are available in multiple formats and easy to understand and use. Linked to the concept of participation and inclusion is that of universal design, which is defined in the Convention as the “design of products, environments, programmes and services that should be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design” (art. 2). In other words, the design phase should consider the needs of all members of society, to ensure that special adaptations are not required later on.
Respect for difference involves accepting others in a context of mutual understanding. This incorporates the acceptance of disability as part of human diversity and humanity. Despite some visible or apparent differences, all people have the same rights and dignity. In this way, for example, before pulling away from a bus stop, a bus driver will give a boy with a physical disability enough time to get up from the bench at the bus shelter, board the bus and reach his seat. Not only does the bus driver ensure that quality and safe transport is provided to all users, but the bus schedule also takes into account various factors, including the requirements of persons with disabilities and other users of public transport. Importantly, the Convention does not seek to prevent disability—which is a medical approach—but rather to prevent discrimination on the basis of disability. Campaigns to prevent accidents and promote safe childbirth and motherhood are relevant to public safety and health. However, when such campaigns are promoted in the context of persons with disabilities, disability is perceived in negative terms, shifting attention away from respect for difference and diversity as well as from combating discrimination—the primary focus of the human rights model.
These general principles are at the core of the UNCRPD and are central to monitoring the rights of persons with disabilities.
UNCRPD’S General Obligations
The Article 4 of UNCRPD outlines the following general obligations:
1. States Parties shall undertake to ensure and promote the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all persons with disabilities without discrimination of any kind on the basis of disability. To this end, States Parties undertake:
(a) To adopt all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the present UNCRPD;
(b) To take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices that constitute discrimination against persons with disabilities;
(c) To take into account the protection and promotion of the human rights of persons with disabilities in all policies and programmes;
(d) To refrain from engaging in any act or practice that is inconsistent with the present UNCRPD and to ensure that public authorities and institutions act in conformity with the present UNCRPD;
(e) To take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability by any person, organization or private enterprise;
(f) To undertake or promote research and development of universally designed goods, services, equipment and facilities, as defined in article 2 of the present UNCRPD, which should require the minimum possible adaptation and the least cost to meet the specific needs of a person with disabilities, to promote their availability and use, and to promote universal design in the development of standards and guidelines;
(g) To undertake or promote research and development of, and to promote the availability and use of new technologies, including information and communications technologies, mobility aids, devices and assistive technologies, suitable for persons with disabilities, giving priority to technologies at an affordable cost;
(h) To provide accessible information to persons with disabilities about mobility aids, devices and assistive technologies, including new technologies, as well as other forms of assistance, support services and facilities;
(i) To promote the training of professionals and staff working with persons with disabilities in the rights recognized in the present UNCRPD so as to better provide the assistance and services guaranteed by those rights.
2. With regard to economic, social and cultural rights, each State Party undertakes to take measures to the maximum of its available resources and, where needed, within the framework of international cooperation, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of these rights, without prejudice to those obligations contained in the present UNCRPD that are immediately applicable according to international law.
3. In the development and implementation of legislation and policies to implement the present UNCRPD, and in other decision-making processes concerning issues relating to persons with disabilities, States Parties shall closely consult with and actively involve persons with disabilities, including children with disabilities, through their representative organizations.
4. Nothing in the present UNCRPD shall affect any provisions which are more conducive to the realization of the rights of persons with disabilities and which may be contained in the law of a State Party or international law in force for that State. There shall be no restriction upon or derogation from any of the human rights and fundamental freedoms recognized or existing in any State Party to the present UNCRPD pursuant to law, conventions, regulation or custom on the pretext that the present UNCRPD does not recognize such rights or freedoms or that it recognizes them to a lesser extent.
5. The provisions of the present UNCRPD shall extend to all parts of federal States without any limitations or exceptions.
Equality and Non-discrimination
Article 5 of the UNCRPD explains about the equality and non-discrimination for persons with disabilities; it specifies that:
1. States Parties shall recognize that all persons are equal before and under the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law.
2. States Parties shall prohibit all discrimination on the basis of disability and guarantee to persons with disabilities equal and effective legal protection against discrimination on all grounds.
3. In order to promote equality and eliminate discrimination, States Parties shall take all appropriate steps to ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided.
4. Specific measures which are necessary to accelerate or achieve de-facto equality of persons with disabilities shall not be considered discrimination under the terms of the present UNCRPD.
Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities
Article 9 of the UNCRPD clearly explains about the accessibility of persons with disabilities; it details that:
1. To enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life, States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas. These measures, which shall include the identification and elimination of obstacles and barriers to accessibility, shall apply to, inter alia:
(a) Buildings, roads, transportation and other indoor and outdoor facilities, including schools, housing, medical facilities and workplaces;
(b) Information, communications and other services, including electronic services and emergency services.
2. States Parties shall also take appropriate measures:
(a) To develop, promulgate and monitor the implementation of minimum standards and guidelines for the accessibility of facilities and services open or provided to the public;
(b) To ensure that private entities that offer facilities and services which are open or provided to the public take into account all aspects of accessibility for persons with disabilities;
(c) To provide training for stakeholders on accessibility issues facing persons with disabilities;
(d) To provide in buildings and other facilities open to the public signage in Braille and in easy to read and understand forms;
(e) To provide forms of live assistance and intermediaries, including guides, readers and professional sign language interpreters, to facilitate accessibility to buildings and other facilities open to the public;
(f) To promote other appropriate forms of assistance and support to persons with disabilities to ensure their access to information;
(g) To promote access for persons with disabilities to new information and communications technologies and systems, including the Internet;
(h) To promote the design, development, production and distribution of accessible information and communications technologies and systems at an early stage, so that these technologies and systems become accessible at minimum cost.
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities under UNCRPD
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) is a wide ranging human rights treaty covering the full spectrum of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. The UNCRPD does not establish new rights for persons with disabilities; instead, it elaborates on what existing human rights mean for persons with disabilities and clarifies the obligations of States parties to protect and promote these rights. In order to ensure an environment conducive to the fulfilment of the rights of persons with disabilities, the UNCRPD also includes articles on awareness-raising, accessibility, situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies, access to justice, personal mobility, habilitation and rehabilitation, as well as statistics and data collection.
Therefore, Articles 10 to 30 cover the rights guaranteed to persons with disabilities:
Article 10: The right to life,
Article 11: Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies,
Article 12: Equal recognition before the law,
Article 13: Access to justice,
Article 14: Liberty and security of the person,
Article 15: Freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,
Article 16: Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse,
Article 17: Protecting the integrity of the person,
Article 18: Liberty of movement and nationality,
Article 19: Living independently and being included, in the community,
Article 20: Personal mobility,
Article 21: Freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information,
Article 22: Respect for privacy,
Article 23: Respect for home and the family,
Article 24: Education,
Article 25: Health,
Article 26: Habilitation and rehabilitation,
Article 27: Work and employment,
Article 28: Adequate standard of living and social protection,
Article 29: Participation in political and public life,
Article 30: Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport.
To illustrate how these rights are elaborated in details for persons with disabilities, read the following Articles 10 to 30 of the UNCRPD:
Article 10: Right to Life
States Parties reaffirm that every human being has the inherent right to life and shall take all necessary measures to ensure its effective enjoyment by persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others.
Article 11: Situations of Risk and Humanitarian Emergencies
States Parties shall take, in accordance with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and the occurrence of natural disasters.
Article 12: Equal Recognition before the Law
1. States Parties shall reaffirm that persons with disabilities have the right to recognition everywhere as persons before the law.
2. States Parties shall recognize that persons with disabilities enjoy legal capacity on an equal basis with others in all aspects of life.
3. States Parties shall take appropriate measures to provide access by persons with disabilities to the support they may require in exercising their legal capacity.
4. States Parties shall ensure that all measures that relate to the exercise of legal capacity provide for appropriate and effective safeguards to prevent abuse in accordance with international human rights law. Such safeguards shall ensure that measures relating to the exercise of legal capacity respect the rights, will and preferences of the person, are free of conflict of interest and undue influence, are proportional and tailored to the person’s circumstances, apply for the shortest time possible and are subject to regular review by a competent, independent and impartial authority or judicial body. The safeguards shall be proportional to the degree to which such measures affect the person’s rights and interests.
5. Subject to the provisions of this article, States Parties shall take all appropriate and effective measures to ensure the equal right of persons with disabilities to own or inherit property, to control their own financial affairs and to have equal access to bank loans, mortgages and other forms of financial credit, and shall ensure that persons with disabilities are not arbitrarily deprived of their property.
Article 13: Access to Justice
1. States Parties shall ensure effective access to justice for persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others, including through the provision of procedural and age-appropriate accommodations, in order to facilitate their effective role as direct and indirect participants, including as witnesses, in all legal proceedings, including at investigative and other preliminary stages.
2. In order to help to ensure effective access to justice for persons with disabilities, States Parties shall promote appropriate training for those working in the field of administration of justice, including police and prison staff.
Article 14: Liberty and Security of Person
1. States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others:
(a) Enjoy the right to liberty and security of person;
(b) Are not deprived of their liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily, and that any deprivation of liberty is in conformity with the law, and that the existence of a disability shall in no case justify a deprivation of liberty.
2. States Parties shall ensure that if persons with disabilities are deprived of their liberty through any process, they are, on an equal basis with others, entitled to guarantees in accordance with international human rights law and shall be treated in compliance with the objectives and principles of the present Convention, including by provision of reasonable accommodation.
Article 15: Freedom from Torture or Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
1. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his or her free consent to medical or scientific experimentation.
2. States Parties shall take all effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others, from being subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 16: Freedom from Exploitation, Violence and Abuse
1. States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social, educational and other measures to protect persons with disabilities, both within and outside the home, from all forms of exploitation, violence and abuse, including their gender-based aspects.
2. States Parties shall also take all appropriate measures to prevent all forms of exploitation, violence and abuse by ensuring, inter alia, appropriate forms of gender- and age-sensitive assistance and support for persons with disabilities and their families and caregivers, including through the provision of information and education on how to avoid, recognize and report instances of exploitation, violence and abuse. States Parties shall ensure that protection services are age-, gender- and disability-sensitive.
3. In order to prevent the occurrence of all forms of exploitation, violence and abuse, States Parties shall ensure that all facilities and programmes designed to serve persons with disabilities are effectively monitored by independent authorities.
4. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to promote the physical, cognitive and psychological recovery, rehabilitation and social reintegration of persons with disabilities who become victims of any form of exploitation, violence or abuse, including through the provision of protection services. Such recovery and reintegration shall take place in an environment that fosters the health, welfare, self-respect, dignity and autonomy of the person and takes into account gender- and age-specific needs.
5. States Parties shall put in place effective legislation and policies, including women- and child-focused legislation and policies, to ensure that instances of exploitation, violence and abuse against persons with disabilities are identified, investigated and, where appropriate, prosecuted.
Article 17: Protecting the Integrity of the Person
Every person with disabilities has a right to respect for his or her physical and mental integrity on an equal basis with others.
Article 18: Liberty of Movement and Nationality
1. States Parties shall recognize the rights of persons with disabilities to liberty of movement, to freedom to choose their residence and to a nationality, on an equal basis with others, including by ensuring that persons with disabilities:
(a) Have the right to acquire and change a nationality and are not deprived of their nationality arbitrarily or on the basis of disability;
(b) Are not deprived, on the basis of disability, of their ability to obtain, possess and utilize documentation of their nationality or other documentation of identification, or to utilize relevant processes such as immigration proceedings, that may be needed to facilitate exercise of the right to liberty of movement;
(c) Are free to leave any country, including their own;
(d) Are not deprived, arbitrarily or on the basis of disability, of the right to enter their own country.
2. Children with disabilities shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by their parents.
Article 19: Living Independently and Being Included in the Community
States Parties to the present UNCRPD recognize the equal right of all persons with disabilities to live in the community, with choices equal to others, and shall take effective and appropriate measures to facilitate full enjoyment by persons with disabilities of this right and their full inclusion and participation in the community, including by ensuring that:
(a) Persons with disabilities have the opportunity to choose their place of residence and where and with whom they live on an equal basis with others and are not obliged to live in a particular living arrangement;
(b) Persons with disabilities have access to a range of in-home, residential and other community support services, including personal assistance necessary to support living and inclusion in the community, and to prevent isolation or segregation from the community;
(c) Community services and facilities for the general population are available on an equal basis to persons with disabilities and are responsive to their needs.
Article 20: Personal Mobility
States Parties shall take effective measures to ensure personal mobility with the greatest possible independence for persons with disabilities, including by:
(a) Facilitating the personal mobility of persons with disabilities in the manner and at the time of their choice, and at affordable cost;
(b) Facilitating access by persons with disabilities to quality mobility aids, devices, assistive technologies and forms of live assistance and intermediaries, including by making them available at affordable cost;
(c) Providing training in mobility skills to persons with disabilities and to specialist staff working with persons with disabilities;
(d) Encouraging entities that produce mobility aids, devices and assistive technologies to take into account all aspects of mobility for persons with disabilities.
Article 21: Freedom of Expression and Opinion, and Access to Information
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities can exercise the right to freedom of expression and opinion, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas on an equal basis with others and through all forms of communication of their choice, as defined in article 2 of the present Convention, including by:
(a) Providing information intended for the general public to persons with disabilities in accessible formats and technologies appropriate to different kinds of disabilities in a timely manner and without additional cost;
(b) Accepting and facilitating the use of sign languages, Braille, augmentative and alternative communication, and all other accessible means, modes and formats of communication of their choice by persons with disabilities in official interactions;
(c) Urging private entities that provide services to the general public, including through the Internet, to provide information and services in accessible and usable formats for persons with disabilities;
(d) Encouraging the mass media, including providers of information through the Internet, to make their services accessible to persons with disabilities;
(e) Recognizing and promoting the use of sign languages.
Article 22: Respect for Privacy
1. No person with disabilities, regardless of place of residence or living arrangements, shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence or other types of communication or to unlawful attacks on his or her honour and reputation. Persons with disabilities have the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
2. States Parties shall protect the privacy of personal, health and rehabilitation information of persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others.
Article 23: Respect for Home and the Family
1. States Parties shall take effective and appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against persons with disabilities in all matters relating to marriage, family, parenthood and relationships, on an equal basis with others, so as to ensure that:
(a) The right of all persons with disabilities who are of marriageable age to marry and to found a family on the basis of free and full consent of the intending spouses is recognized;
(b) The rights of persons with disabilities to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and to have access to age-appropriate information, reproductive and family planning education are recognized, and the means necessary to enable them to exercise these rights are provided;
(c) Persons with disabilities, including children, retain their fertility on an equal basis with others.
2. States Parties shall ensure the rights and responsibilities of persons with disabilities, with regard to guardianship, wardship, trusteeship, adoption of children or similar institutions, where these concepts exist in national legislation; in all cases the best interests of the child shall be paramount. States Parties shall render appropriate assistance to persons with disabilities in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities.
3. States Parties shall ensure that children with disabilities have equal rights with respect to family life. With a view to realizing these rights, and to prevent concealment, abandonment, neglect and segregation of children with disabilities, States Parties shall undertake to provide early and comprehensive information, services and support to children with disabilities and their families.
4. States Parties shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will, except when competent authorities subject to judicial review determine, in accordance with applicable law and procedures, that such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child. In no case shall a child be separated from parents on the basis of a disability of either the child or one or both of the parents.
5. States Parties shall, where the immediate family is unable to care for a child with disabilities, undertake every effort to provide alternative care within the wider family, and failing that, within the community in a family setting.
Article 24: Education
1. States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to education. With a view to realizing this right without discrimination and on the basis of equal opportunity, States Parties shall ensure an inclusive education system at all levels and lifelong learning directed to:
(a) The full development of human potential and sense of dignity and self-worth, and the strengthening of respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and human diversity;
(b) The development by persons with disabilities of their personality, talents and creativity, as well as their mental and physical abilities, to their fullest potential;
(c) Enabling persons with disabilities to participate effectively in a free society.
2. In realizing this right, States Parties shall ensure that:
(a) Persons with disabilities are not excluded from the general education system on the basis of disability, and that children with disabilities are not excluded from free and compulsory primary education, or from secondary education, on the basis of disability;
(b) Persons with disabilities can access an inclusive, quality and free primary education and secondary education on an equal basis with others in the communities in which they live;
(c) Reasonable accommodation of the individual’s requirements is provided;
(d) Persons with disabilities receive the support required, within the general education system, to facilitate their effective education;
(e) Effective individualized support measures are provided in environments that maximize academic and social development, consistent with the goal of full inclusion.
3. States Parties shall enable persons with disabilities to learn life and social development skills to facilitate their full and equal participation in education and as members of the community. To this end, States Parties shall take appropriate measures, including:
(a) Facilitating the learning of Braille, alternative script, augmentative and alternative modes, means and formats of communication and orientation and mobility skills, and facilitating peer support and mentoring;
(b) Facilitating the learning of sign language and the promotion of the linguistic identity of the deaf community;
(c) Ensuring that the education of persons, and in particular children, who are blind, deaf or deafblind, is delivered in the most appropriate languages and modes and means of communication for the individual, and in environments which maximize academic and social development.
4. In order to help ensure the realization of this right, States Parties shall take appropriate measures to employ teachers, including teachers with disabilities, who are qualified in sign language and/or Braille, and to train professionals and staff who work at all levels of education. Such training shall incorporate disability awareness and the use of appropriate augmentative and alternative modes, means and formats of communication, educational techniques and materials to support persons with disabilities.
5. States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities are able to access general tertiary education, vocational training, adult education and lifelong learning without discrimination and on an equal basis with others. To this end, States Parties shall ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided to persons with disabilities.
Article 25: Health
States Parties shall recognize that persons with disabilities have the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health without discrimination on the basis of disability. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure access for persons with disabilities to health services that are gender-sensitive, including health-related rehabilitation. In particular, States Parties shall:
(a) Provide persons with disabilities with the same range, quality and standard of free or affordable health care and programmes as provided to other persons, including in the area of sexual and reproductive health and population-based public health programmes;
(b) Provide those health services needed by persons with disabilities specifically because of their disabilities, including early identification and intervention as appropriate, and services designed to minimize and prevent further disabilities, including among children and older persons;
(c) Provide these health services as close as possible to people’s own communities, including in rural areas;
(d) Require health professionals to provide care of the same quality to persons with disabilities as to others, including on the basis of free and informed consent by, inter alia, raising awareness of the human rights, dignity, autonomy and needs of persons with disabilities through training and the promulgation of ethical standards for public and private health care;
(e) Prohibit discrimination against persons with disabilities in the provision of health insurance, and life insurance where such insurance is permitted by national law, which shall be provided in a fair and reasonable manner;
(f) Prevent discriminatory denial of health care or health services or food and fluids on the basis of disability.
Article 26: Habilitation and Rehabilitation
1. States Parties shall take effective and appropriate measures, including through peer support, to enable persons with disabilities to attain and maintain maximum independence, full physical, mental, social and vocational ability, and full inclusion and participation in all aspects of life. To that end, States Parties shall organize, strengthen and extend comprehensive habilitation and rehabilitation services and programmes, particularly in the areas of health, employment, education and social services, in such a way that these services and programmes:
(a) Begin at the earliest possible stage, and are based on the multidisciplinary assessment of individual needs and strengths;
(b) Support participation and inclusion in the community and all aspects of society, are voluntary, and are available to persons with disabilities as close as possible to their own communities, including in rural areas.
2. States Parties shall promote the development of initial and continuing training for professionals and staff working in habilitation and rehabilitation services.
3. States Parties shall promote the availability, knowledge and use of assistive devices and technologies, designed for persons with disabilities, as they relate to habilitation and rehabilitation.
Article 27: Work and Employment
1. States Parties shall recognize the right of persons with disabilities to work, on an equal basis with others; this includes the right to the opportunity to gain a living by work freely chosen or accepted in a labour market and work environment that is open, inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities. States Parties shall safeguard and promote the realization of the right to work, including for those who acquire a disability during the course of employment, by taking appropriate steps, including through legislation, to, inter alia:
(a) Prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability with regard to all matters concerning all forms of employment, including conditions of recruitment, hiring and employment, continuance of employment, career advancement and safe and healthy working conditions;
(b) Protect the rights of persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others, to just and favourable conditions of work, including equal opportunities and equal remuneration for work of equal value, safe and healthy working conditions, including protection from harassment, and the redress of grievances;
(c) Ensure that persons with disabilities are able to exercise their labour and trade union rights on an equal basis with others;
(d) Enable persons with disabilities to have effective access to general technical and vocational guidance programmes, placement services and vocational and continuing training;
(e) Promote employment opportunities and career advancement for persons with disabilities in the labour market, as well as assistance in finding, obtaining, maintaining and returning to employment;
(f) Promote opportunities for self-employment, entrepreneurship, the development of cooperatives and starting one’s own business;
(g) Employ persons with disabilities in the public sector;
(h) Promote the employment of persons with disabilities in the private sector through appropriate policies and measures, which may include affirmative action programmes, incentives and other measures;
(i) Ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided to persons with disabilities in the workplace;
(j) Promote the acquisition by persons with disabilities of work experience in the open labour market;
(k) Promote vocational and professional rehabilitation, job retention and return-to-work programmes for persons with disabilities.
2. States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities are not held in slavery or in servitude, and are protected, on an equal basis with others, from forced or compulsory labour.
Article 28: Adequate Standard of Living and Social Protection
1. States Parties shall recognize the right of persons with disabilities to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions, and shall take appropriate steps to safeguard and promote the realization of this right without discrimination on the basis of disability.
2. States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to social protection and to the enjoyment of that right without discrimination on the basis of disability, and shall take appropriate steps to safeguard and promote the realization of this right, including measures:
(a) To ensure equal access by persons with disabilities to clean water services, and to ensure access to appropriate and affordable services, devices and other assistance for disability-related needs;
(b) To ensure access by persons with disabilities, in particular women and girls with disabilities and older persons with disabilities, to social protection programmes and poverty reduction programmes;
(c) To ensure access by persons with disabilities and their families living in situations of poverty to assistance from the State with disability-related expenses, including adequate training, counselling, financial assistance and respite care;
(d) To ensure access by persons with disabilities to public housing programmes;
(e) To ensure equal access by persons with disabilities to retirement benefits and programmes.
Article 29: Participation in Political and Public life
States Parties shall guarantee to persons with disabilities political rights and the opportunity to enjoy them on an equal basis with others, and shall undertake:
(a) To ensure that persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in political and public life on an equal basis with others, directly or through freely chosen representatives, including the right and opportunity for persons with disabilities to vote and be elected, inter alia, by:
i. Ensuring that voting procedures, facilities and materials are appropriate, accessible and easy to understand and use;
ii. Protecting the right of persons with disabilities to vote by secret ballot in elections and public referendums without intimidation, and to stand for elections, to effectively hold office and perform all public functions at all levels of government, facilitating the use of assistive and new technologies where appropriate;
iii. Guaranteeing the free expression of the will of persons with disabilities as electors and to this end, where necessary, at their request, allowing assistance in voting by a person of their own choice;
(b) To promote actively an environment in which persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in the conduct of public affairs, without discrimination and on an equal basis with others, and encourage their participation in public affairs, including:
i. Participation in non-governmental organizations and associations concerned with the public and political life of the country, and in the activities and administration of political parties;
ii. Forming and joining organizations of persons with disabilities to represent persons with disabilities at international, national, regional and local levels.
Article 30: Participation in Cultural Life, Recreation, Leisure and sport
1. States Parties shall recognize the right of persons with disabilities to take part on an equal basis with others in cultural life, and shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities:
(a) Enjoy access to cultural materials in accessible formats;
(b) Enjoy access to television programmes, films, theatre and other cultural activities, in accessible formats;
(c) Enjoy access to places for cultural performances or services, such as theatres, museums, cinemas, libraries and tourism services, and, as far as possible, enjoy access to monuments and sites of national cultural importance.
2. States Parties shall take appropriate measures to enable persons with disabilities to have the opportunity to develop and utilize their creative, artistic and intellectual potential, not only for their own benefit, but also for the enrichment of society.
3. States Parties shall take all appropriate steps, in accordance with international law, to ensure that laws protecting intellectual property rights do not constitute an unreasonable or discriminatory barrier to access by persons with disabilities to cultural materials.
4. Persons with disabilities shall be entitled, on an equal basis with others, to recognition and support of their specific cultural and linguistic identity, including sign languages and deaf culture.
5. With a view to enabling persons with disabilities to participate on an equal basis with others in recreational, leisure and sporting activities, States Parties shall take appropriate measures:
(a) To encourage and promote the participation, to the fullest extent possible, of persons with disabilities in mainstream sporting activities at all levels;
(b) To ensure that persons with disabilities have an opportunity to organize, develop and participate in disability-specific sporting and recreational activities and, to this end, encourage the provision, on an equal basis with others, of appropriate instruction, training and resources;
(c) To ensure that persons with disabilities have access to sporting, recreational and tourism venues;
(d) To ensure that children with disabilities have equal access with other children to participation in play, recreation and leisure and sporting activities, including those activities in the school system;
(e) To ensure that persons with disabilities have access to services from those involved in the organization of recreational, tourism, leisure and sporting activities.
Conclusion
As stated in Article 8 of the UNCRPD, awareness-raising shall be carried out; thus, it explains that:
1. States Parties undertake to adopt immediate, effective and appropriate measures:
(a) To raise awareness throughout society, including at the family level, regarding persons with disabilities, and to foster respect for the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities;
(b) To combat stereotypes, prejudices and harmful practices relating to persons with disabilities, including those based on sex and age, in all areas of life;
(c) To promote awareness of the capabilities and contributions of persons with disabilities.
2. Measures to this end include:
(a) Initiating and maintaining effective public awareness campaigns designed:
i. To nurture receptiveness to the rights of persons with disabilities;
ii. To promote positive perceptions and greater social awareness towards persons with disabilities;
iii. To promote recognition of the skills, merits and abilities of persons with disabilities, and of their contributions to the workplace and the labour market;
(b) Fostering at all levels of the education system, including in all children from an early age, an attitude of respect for the rights of persons with disabilities;
(c) Encouraging all organs of the media to portray persons with disabilities in a manner consistent with the purpose of the present UNCRPD;
(d) Promoting awareness-training programmes regarding persons with disabilities and the rights of persons with disabilities.
