6.2.2 The UN Convention

It is the task of policies to create equal opportunities for all. International guidelines and commitments exist alongside the legal frameworks of nation states. The most important of these since 1993 have been the UN Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for People with Disabilities, which advise nation states on how to promote equality. However, while this text was hitherto the most important international initiative concerning the rights of persons with disabilities, it was not a legally binding instrument.

To overcome this shortcoming, representatives from the UN, governments and NGOs worldwide have been discussing the drafting and formulation of a convention since June 2001. An ad hoc committee has been created, and 8 sessions were needed before the convention text was proposed to the UN General Assembly. For the first time in history an UN Convention was formulated with a high participation of civil society stakeholders, especially organisations of people with disabilities.  

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 13 December 2006. The convention’s purpose 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" (Article 1). It represents a universal undertaking to make our societies inclusive so that persons with disabilities may benefit from the same opportunities and the same possibilities for participation as everyone else. This convention has not created new rights; instead, it expresses all human rights in terms of the specific needs and situations of persons with disabilities.

Until now, it has been possible to overlook persons with disabilities and leave them to be looked after by their families, giving no further thought to the matter. This text may have all the weaknesses of conventions – and the simple fact that it exists will not be enough to make things change – but it nonetheless represents a historical step forward which will provide the civil society with new opportunities for calling states’ attention to their obligations. This international convention calls for persons with disabilities no longer to be regarded as objects of charity, but as subjects and rightholders.

Since 30 March 2007 the Convention is open for signature. In November 2007, almost 120 states signed the Convention, while seven have ratified it. No Human Rights Convention before has been ratified by such a huge number of states in such a short time. As soon as 20 states have ratified the Convention it will enter into force and will be a legally binding instrument for the ratification states. Following this, all ratifying states will have to adapt their national legislation to the Convention. Finally an effective system to monitor the realisation and implementation of the legal system has to be put into place.

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