Disabled women demand inclusion in UN Convention
By Robyn Hunt, New Zealand
(Editor's note: Robyn Hunt has long been a Disability World reporter and in June was a member of the New Zealand delegation to the Ad Hoc Meeting on a UN disability convention. The NZ delegation was one of the most productive and following are two short reports from Robyn's point of view.)
Disabled women and girls must be explicitly included in a United Nations Disability Convention according to disabled women activists and their supporters who met in New York in June.
This inclusion is necessary because disabled women have been invisible for too long in the existing human rights treaties and other human rights initiatives. In particular, the group noted, disabled women's right to self determination is frequently violated.
The United Nations ad hoc committee meeting provided a rare opportunity for disabled women who are part of a growing and strengthening international network to meet and work on issues.
Participants represented a number of disability and human rights non-governmental and semi-governmental entities, from the following countries: Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Finland, Germany, Ireland, India, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, South Africa, Sweden, Uganda, and USA.
They gathered to discuss the importance of a gender sensitive disability convention and produced a statement for distribution at the meeting and beyond.
The full spectrum of gender aspects of discrimination and human rights violations was discussed, and core areas, corresponding to established rights in other international treaties, were identified. Examples of rights which are frequently violated are the rights to: equality, education, employment, protection against all forms of violence, protection against eugenics health programs and practices and access to health services and family life
While a number of country and other statements made during the meeting recognised human rights concerns relating to disabled women the group agreed to submit appropriate text for consideration by the Ad Hoc Committee.
The group also decided to initiate contact with CEDAW independent experts and governmental and non-governmental groups advancing the human rights of women. Their collaboration will be requested in integrating areas of concern to disabled women and girls into their work.
The group hopes to remain in contact to identify other ways to ensure that the process of development of a disability convention and the text is representative of and fully inclusive of all disabled women.
Nothing about us without us
This catch cry became the theme of the two weeks of the ad hoc committee meeting at the United Nations in New York. An unprecedented level of participation by NGOs at the UN made it very clear to the nations of the world that disabled people want a say in the development of their own convention, and that they have definite ideas about its content.
Large numbers of disabled people participated in the meeting. They participated in governmental and NGO delegations and as representatives of national human rights institutions. Disabled people led several country delegations, a very positive development.
Disabled people's perspectives made a significant contribution to the way issues were framed in the debate. The disability caucus met each day. Daily information and summary bulletins were published, including the awarding of badges of honour and dishonour.
Supporting statements for a Convention were made by the International Disability Alliance and some of its member organisations, the Landmine Survivors' Network and other NGOs. It was disappointing that human rights organisations other than disability organisations did not have a strong presence.
Although there was considerable opposition from some countries to the participation of NGOs, (including organisations of disabled people,) NGO inclusion won out, with twelve representative places being provided on the working group tasked with developing a draft text before the Ad Hoc committee meets again in June 2004.
The working group includes twenty-seven country representatives and one national human rights institution representative. Seven of the NGO representatives will be from the member organisations of the International Disability Alliance: Disabled Peoples International, Rehabilitation International, Inclusion International, World Blind Union, World Federation of the Deaf, World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry, World Federation of Deaf/Blind. Five will be regional representatives.
For the next stage, the development of a draft text, and the 2004 meeting of the ad hoc committee to be successful there will need to be wide international engagement of disabled people and their organisations. A strong alliance with a clear and unified view of the kind of convention disabled people want needs to be sustained, along with the will to work with other parties in the process to achieve it.
More information can be found at
Ad hoc committee site www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/adhoccom.htm
UN disability site www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/
NGO information www.rightsforall.org and
www.worldenable.net
UN High Commission for Human Rights www.unhchr.ch/disability/index.htm
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