Towards a UN Disability Convention - input from Rehabilitation International to the Second Ad Hoc Meeting
The primary goal for the second ad hoc meting should be to achieve a clear recommendation by the ad hoc meeting to the General Assembly that there should be a Convention. All kinds of texts opening the door to other alternatives should be resisted.
Many resolutions and interventions at the first ad hoc meeting make reference to 600 million people with disabilities in the world. We need to know who those people are and what are their living conditions. In addition it is time to verify the accuracy of the 10% estimation. Most industrialized countries estimate the proportion of their population who has a disability to be between 12 - 20 %. Developing countries on the other hand mostly report 2 - 5%. Many people consider the figures from developing countries to be underestimations.
The resolution produced by IDA on July 28, 2001 and presented to the States participating in the first ad hoc meeting reflects well Rehabilitation International's position regarding priorities for a Disability Convention.
Rehabilitation International would like to see the following principles guiding the work for a Convention:
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Disability is a Human Rights issue.
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People with disabilities should have opportunities equal to those of other citizens
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Physical and attitudinal barriers in society cause serious discrimination and social exclusion
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An inclusive society is of benefit not only to people with disabilities but also to other groups in society.
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Because disabled children and adults are among the "poorest of the poor" in the vast majority of countries, the socio-economic realities should be an important consideration.
Particular challenges for the international disability community
A disability convention needs to take into account the needs of people with a variety of different disabilities. Rehabilitation International would like to emphasize the needs of large groups of people with disabilities whose voice is not (often or so much) heard. Many disabilities are not so well known and their needs therefore not put forward.
Among the following examples figures are given from Sweden and USA. They are likely to relevant also for other countries:
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Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease that makes many people, in particular women disabled. Out of a population of 9 million, more than half a million Swedes have some form of rheumatic disease. 0.75% of the total population is estimated to have some form of rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatism also affects children. (Source: Reumatikerforbundet)
People with rheumatism often have pain and limitations in body functions. They require assistive technology and physical access to society.
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Some 1,400 women die every day in pregnancy and childbirth. Almost all of them live in developing countries. For each woman who dies, at least 30 and an estimated 100 women survive childbearing but suffer from serious disease, disability, or physical damage caused by pregnancy-related complications or by genital mutilation. Millions of women living in Sub Saharan countries and in a few countries in Asia become disabled every year. (Source: UNFPA update 1998-1999).
Women with disabilities caused by childbearing are often incontinent. They face social exclusion. Their primary requirements are acceptance in society, assistive technology and medical care.
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More and more often, adults are surviving cancer, heart attacks and strokes for lengthening periods. Although in some countries, there is appropriate medical and therapeutic support for them to resume an active life, in most countries these populations are left to isolate within their families. They need peer support and rehabilitation services to remain connected to their work and community life.
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Diabetes is becoming common not only in industrialized countries but also in countries in the South. An estimated 6% of the population in USA has diabetes. Diabetes is responsible for 8% of legal blindness, making it the leading cause of new cases of blindness in adults 20-74 years of age in USA. Subsequently secondary prevention is of crucial importance. (Source: American Diabetes Association).
People with diabetes require assistive technology - insulin and equipment to take the insulin - which can be very costly for the individual. In addition counseling and information about content in food is essential to people with diabetes.
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Another neglected group are people with speech impairment. About 125,000 people in Sweden have a speech-impairment out of which 40,000 can't speak at all. (Sources: Talhandikappades Forening and ISAAC) Children and adults with speech impairments often have multiple disabilities.
People with speech impairments require understanding of their needs, interpreter service and assistive technology.
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People living with HIV/AIDS, as well as those suspected of being HIV positive, are very often discriminated against because they are wrongly perceived as being unable to perform; they are wrongly perceived as being a threat to public health; or they are perceived as being, or indeed are, a member of some group already suffering discrimination, such as homosexuals. Thus, if they are not actually disabled by HIV-related conditions, they are often disabled by the discriminatory treatment they receive because of their HIV status. The result is that they are denied the possibility of being productive, self-reliant, full and equal members of society.
The conditions of HIV and AIDS should be viewed as disabilities. A person who is HIV positive but who has no symptoms or illness is able to perform any task or accept any service for which she or he is qualified. Millions of the 21 million people presently living with HIV experience many productive years in such a healthy state, and the length of this period is ever increasing with medical advances.
A person living with HIV who has symptoms of HIV-related disease may be somewhat disabled in fulfilling job-related functions. However, as with other disabilities, reasonable accommodations, such as flexible working hours, may enable full participation of that individual (Source: UNAIDS).
One consequence of the international focus on immunization campaigns has been less attention to those already disabled by, for example, polio. There are millions of children, adolescents and adults around the world who have survived the infection but have mobility and other resultant disabilities. In addition, many mobility impairments are caused by war, landmines and other forms of political violence. With the assistance of assistive technology, such as crutches, wheelchairs and other mobility equipment, they could attend school or take up employment. One estimate by Whirlwind Wheelchairs International is that around 20 million people in the world could use assistance in mobility. A study by RI &UNICEF determined that for various cultural and other reasons, women and children are the least likely to receive mobility aids and rehabilitation from the many emergency services that have been set up to respond to injuries caused by political violence.
A special challenge for IDA is to take into consideration the view from many people and organizations in the South that a convention will have to address the socio economic realities in the world.
Rehabilitation International (RI) has among its members in developing as well as in industrialized countries member organizations representing many groups of people with a variety of different disabilities. We would like to encourage that the voice of those groups be heard in the elaboration of a comprehensive and integral convention to promote and protect the right and dignity of people with disabilities.
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