Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Opens Thirtieth Session

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities today opened its thirtieth session in Geneva, during which it will review the reports of Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Costa Rica, Kazakhstan, Nicaragua, Sweden and Zambia.

Andrea Ori, Chief, Groups in Focus Section, Human Rights Treaties Branch, Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Representative of the Secretary-General, commended the Committee for having associated fully with the ratification campaign launched by the High Commissioner in the framework of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He said Cameroon, Liechtenstein, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste ratified the Convention in 2023, and South Sudan ratified it in February 2024, bringing to 190 the number of States parties to the Convention.

Mr. Ori said that during the session, the Committee would hold dialogues with seven States parties, follow-up dialogues with two States parties, and would consider individual communications under the Optional Protocol. The Committee would also continue its work towards the elaboration of a general comment on persons with disabilities in situations of risk.

The Committee then adopted the programme of work for the session.

Gertrude Fefoame, Committee Chairperson, provided an overview of her activities undertaken since the last session. At the beginning of the meeting, Ms. Fefoame said pictures had been shown of former committee members who had passed away.

The Secretary of the Committee said there were 68 reports pending to be considered by the Committee.

Speaking at the opening of the session were the Permanent Representative of Timor-Leste to the United Nations Office at Geneva; the Coordinator of the Capacity Building Project; the Chair of the Committee on Victim Assistance, Anti-Mine Ban Convention and Permanent Representative of Slovenia; the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities; the Independent Expert on the rights of persons living with leprosy; the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with Albinism; the Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; the Technical Lead on Disabilities of the World Health Organization; a representative of the United Nations Office of Disaster Risk Reduction; the President of the International Disability Alliance; the Director of International Relations of ONCE and the Deputy Director of International Relations of ONCE; a Professor of Law of the School of Law and Criminology of Maynooth University; a representative of the Association RELAVIN Red Latinoamericana de Vida Independiente; and a disability advocate from Colombia.

Summaries of the public meetings of the Committee can be found here, while webcasts of the public meetings can be found here. The programme of work of the Committee’s thirtieth session and other documents related to the session can be found here.

The Committee will next meet in public at 3 p.m. this afternoon, Monday,4 March, to consider the initial report of Kazakhstan (CRPD/C/KAZ/1).

Opening Statement

ANDREA ORI, Chief, Groups in Focus Section, Human Rights Treaties Branch, Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Representative of the Secretary-General, said in December 2023, at the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, more than 35 States pledged to improve the social inclusion and well-being of persons with disabilities. Mr. Ori commended the Committee for having associated fully with the ratification campaign launched by the High Commissioner. Cameroon, Liechtenstein, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste had ratified the Convention in 2023, and South Sudan ratified it in February 2024, bringing to 190 the number of States parties to the Convention. Kazakhstan and Timor-Leste ratified the Optional Protocol in 2023, bringing the total number to 106 States parties.

During the seventy-eighth session of the General Assembly, a series of resolutions were adopted about persons with disabilities, including on the implementation of the Convention in situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies, and on the protection of human rights in the context of digital technologies. During its fifty-fourth session, the Human Rights Council adopted different resolutions regarding the rights of persons with disabilities, including on the right to privacy in the digital age, and on the centrality of care and support from a human rights perspective.

Within the United Nations system, the global survey on persons with disabilities and disasters was released in October 2023 by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. Around the same time, the World Health Organization and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a publication to assist countries on mental health-related legislation, to align with the Convention. On 1 December 2023, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities was commemorated at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. In November 2023, the Spanish Supreme Court confirmed that the United Nations human rights treaty bodies’ decisions, based on individual complaints, were binding for Spain. In January 2024, the Office of the High Commissioner published a report on good practices of support systems enabling community inclusion of persons with disabilities. In October 2023, the Office, together with United Nations Women and the International Labour Organization, co-organised a high-level event to celebrate the first International Day of Care and Support.

The Office of the High Commissioner continued to support the strengthening of the treaty bodies. An integral part of the progress made last year was the publication of a Working Paper in May 2023, the conclusions of the thirty-fifth annual meeting of Chairpersons of the human rights treaty bodies in June, and the informal briefing on the treaty body strengthening process convened by the High Commissioner in November, attended by 118 States in Geneva and New York as well as by treaty body experts. However, the budgetary constraints coupled with a prolonged liquidity crisis would have an adverse impact on the proper functioning of the treaty body system and risked further increasing the backlog of the treaty bodies. Looking ahead to 2024, the shared strategic goal was to mobilise support from States for the strengthening and further harmonisation of the work of the treaty bodies. This process would culminate in the adoption of the biannual resolution of the General Assembly in December 2024, hopefully with a robust budget.

Effective from 22 January 2024, the United Nations Office at Geneva had ceased servicing all hybrid or virtual meetings on any platform, system, or tool, affecting all meetings taking place at United Nations Geneva, including those of the treaty bodies. The Office realised how disruptive the sudden announcement had been for the work of the treaty bodies. During the seventeenth Conference of States Parties to be held in New York in June this year, nine members of the Committee would be elected or re-elected for a four-year period, from 2025 to 2028.

In conclusion, Mr. Ori said that during this session, the Committee would hold dialogues with seven States parties, follow-up dialogues with two States parties, and would consider individual communications under the Optional Protocol. The Committee would also continue its work towards the elaboration of a general comment on persons with disabilities in situations of risk. Mr. Ori extended his best wishes for a successful and productive session.

Statements by Committee Experts, United Nations Bodies and Civil Society Representatives

In the discussion, speakers among other things underscored their steadfast commitment to promoting the rights of persons with disabilities. They reiterated their commitment to the universal ratification of the Convention and its Optional Protocol. Speakers commended the Committee for all its work, despite budgetary constraints, and promised to continue to support the work of the Committee. The resources constraints faced by the Committee impacted all work. It was regretful that the list of issues for Cyprus, Moldova and Monaco had been postponed. Such delays exasperated the already critical backlog in State reviews. Speakers wished the Committee an interesting and fruitful session ahead.

Speakers also pledged to ensure that persons with disabilities were not left behind and benefited from and contributed to development. One speaker had campaigned for the rights of persons with disabilities in the Sustainable Development Agenda and related discussions, including the Summit of the Future. It was hoped that the Committee would assist in pushing the disability agenda further forward in the international arena. Activities had been carried out in multiple countries across the world under the framework of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, including symbolic three-kilometre marches and the lighting up of buildings and public monuments.

One speaker outlined achievements towards promoting disabilities. In many instances, the understanding had evolved, from looking at persons with disabilities as sick or vulnerable, to taking a human rights-based approach, which was promising. However, despite achievements, there were challenges which required attention. Limited funding for national disability programmes remained a prevalent issue. There had been remarkable progress achieved in the ratification of the Convention and its Optional Protocol. Most of the new ratification and pledges came from the Global South. Focus was on the remaining States that had yet to ratify the Convention, including Bhutan, the Holy See, Lebanon, Eritrea and the United States.

The Committee and the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on persons with disabilities had worked together over 10 years and joined forces in many ways, including mandate holders being consistently invited to participate in the Committee’s sessions. The mandate had systematically relied on the Committee’s general comments and also collaborated with the Committee when developing general comments.

A World Health Assembly resolution adopted in 2021 put a spotlight on the poor health outcomes experienced by persons with disabilities. In December 2022, the World Health Organization published the global report on health equity for persons with disabilities, which found that persons with disabilities were more likely to die earlier, experience poorer health, and have greater limitations. The disability guide fraction put a focus on health system priorities, commitments and investments being made by governments. There needed to be a change in the health system, and ministers of governments were responsible for this.

One speaker elaborated on a project that had been developed which would change the situation of employment of persons with disabilities in Latin America. More than 100 professionals in the field of human rights had taken part in awareness raising actions. Other research projects advancing disability rights focused on the Global South, as well as European countries. This project aimed to understand the way the Convention had acted as a catalyst for change in federal counties. It was important for the Committee to ensure bodies created at the federal and subnational level communicated amongst themselves. This was vital for the implementation of the Convention around the world.

One speaker said leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, was a chronic condition which affected the skin, peripheral nerves and eyes. People with disabilities and people with leprosy needed to recognise themselves as rights holders and activists, and support each other in the struggle for recognition of the State. Another speaker said Albinism was a profoundly misunderstood condition; it was a rare, non-contagious genetic condition. Albinism commonly resulted in a lack of melanin pigment in hair, skin and eyes. It was vital to include persons with Albinism in the policies and discussions on persons with disabilities. A speaker noted that disability could also be invisible, particularly in conditions such as autism. People with autism needed to have an official voice, to build a fairer world.

Speakers said that United Nations Members States should call for the augmentation of the regular budget for the Committee’s activities. During the elections in New York, States should maintain gender balance and ensure representation from under-represented regions. It was important to elect women, as well as Experts with intellectual disabilities. As the Committee was working on the general comment on article 11, all crises and conflicts around the world needed to be considered. Inclusion within the United Nations system was vital. The Committee was urged to bolster its support to new plans of actions and a new way of updating the Convention for the future. Governments should appeal for technical assistance from the Committee.