Here you can read about the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Agenda 2030 and the Global Goals, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the UNSCR 2475 Resolution on the protection of persons with disabilities in armed conflicts.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities promotes, protects and secures human rights and fundamental freedoms for persons with disabilities.
People with disabilities are of course covered by the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and also by other conventions. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities does not contain any new rights, but clarifies what is required for people with disabilities to have their rights fully fulfilled like everyone else.
People with disabilities have historically been seen as recipients of welfare, as a second-class citizen and disability as something to be cured or hidden away. The Convention is an important milestone in both the history of disability and the history of human rights. The convention confirms an important shift in perspective in the view of people with disabilities - from being considered passive recipients of welfare to being individuals with rights.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2006. By 2021, 182 states had ratified the convention. This means that the states have committed themselves to complying with the convention.
Agenda 2030 and the global goals cover all countries in the world and apply to all people and all walks of life. A special focus is on first reaching the most vulnerable and marginalized people. The key word of the agenda is "Leave No One Behind" - No one should be left out. In order for Agenda 2030 and the global goals to be met, everyone must be included.
The countries of the world have committed themselves to work by 2030 to achieve the global goals and long-term sustainable development. This means, among other things, eliminating extreme poverty, reducing inequalities and injustices and resolving the climate crisis. The agenda states that sustainable development can only take place if people have their human rights met.
On September 25, 2015, the countries of the world adopted Agenda 2030 with its 17 global goals. It took place after years of discussions, negotiations and consultations with everything from civil society and governments to business and academia. The international disability rights movement demanded that the global goals focus on one of the poorest and most marginalized groups in the world - people with disabilities. Another requirement was that the global development goals should be in line with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
Disability is mentioned 11 times in the Global Goals and seven of the 17 Goals have explicit references to disability. The 17 global goals have 169 sub-goals and 230 indicators. Some of the objectives that specifically address people with disabilities are Objective 4 - Good education, Objective 8 - Decent working conditions and economic growth, Objective 10 - Reducing inequality, Objective 11 - Sustainable cities and communities and Objective 17 - Implementation and partnership.
The UN's functional rights strategy was launched in June 2019 with the aim of integrating the rights of people with disabilities into the entire UN system. Through the strategy, the UN as an organization has committed itself to implementing and applying the principles of universal design in all its strategies, policies and programs. Universal design is about a responsibility to take advantage of people's experiences, to create solutions that work for as many people as possible from the beginning. This at the same time as obstacles to accessibility must be identified and removed. The plan is for the strategy to provide a basis for a sustainable development of accessibility in the UN for people with disabilities.
The strategy is very important because it calls on the UN to become more inclusive internally. For example, through who is employed, but also by prescribing that accessibility should be improved. It is also about what results the UN achieves. The strategy stipulates that the issue of inclusion of people with disabilities must be included in all work conducted by the UN.
Here you will find the UN Disability Strategy in English:
In June 2019, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution to protect and support people with disabilities affected by armed conflict and disasters. The resolution is described as the first of its kind and calls on all Member States and armed groups to protect people with disabilities in conflict and post-conflict situations and to ensure that they have access to justice, basic services and humanitarian aid.
The resolution was adopted after extensive involvement from civil society and organizations of people with disabilities, but also from various UN bodies under the auspices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and UN member states such as Poland, Ivory Coast , Germany, Kuwait and Peru.
The resolution calls on Member States to cooperate with organizations of people with disabilities and to enable meaningful participation of people with disabilities in humanitarian operations as well as in conflict prevention, reconstruction and peacebuilding.
Here you can read the resolution:
UNSCR 2475- Resolution on aid in the event of conflict and disaster
Organization number: 802402-9376
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