The 20th nation has ratified the United nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD.)
Ecuador was the tipping point nation. This means that the document will attain force of law on May 3.
It is no secret that the United States has not been supportive of this culmination of 30 year's work by the disability community. The US disability community has written and vigorously promoted the ADA Restoration Act as a remedy to US abdication of the core intent of the ADA. It now appears that the next phase in the backslide will take the form of benign disinterest and subtle claims that the ADA and CRPD are equivalent. It remains for the united disability community to mount an effective public education initiative to turn aside such patronizing dismissal of our political will as:
"We recognize that many other states may consider the convention a useful tool as they develop their own national framework for persons with disabilities," said U.S. mission spokesman Richard Grenell.*"But for the U.S., the Americans with Disabilities Act, passed in 2001, was the most sweeping legislation to provide access for people with disabilities."
The momentum for justice on disability rights has bypassed the United States. Case in point, in practice the ADA does not provide the coherent and fundamental human rights affirmation on leisure and tourism contained in Chapter 30 of the Convention.
Speaking to US readers explicitly for the moment - It is in our best interest as a nation to admit our failure to live up to our own promise as embodied in the ADA. It is time to join the international community rather than cower behind protests of having been "first." Protests of psuedo-support are a disingenuous disservice to the disability community. False assurances that the existing - and complacent - US system is the endpoint to be sought is also a disservice to business. Without a vision equivalent to that of Chapter 30 of the CRPD the tourism industry in the US will fall further and further behind the rest of the world.
* Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN03333101
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Secretary-General Ban hails entry into force of treaty on disability rights
[UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro (left) addressing the signing ceremony of the Convention last year]
UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro (left) addressing the signing ceremony of the Convention last year
3 April 2008 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the entry into force of the first international treaty on the human rights of persons with disabilities, after the required twentieth country ratified the landmark convention today.
“It is a historic moment in our quest for realization of the universal human rights for ALL persons, creating a fully inclusive society for all,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson Marie Okabe said in a statement celebrating the rapid progress of the Convention on the rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was adopted in December 2006.
“The Convention will be a powerful tool to eradicate the obstacle faced by persons with disabilities,” she said, pointing to discrimination, segregation from society, economic marginalization, and lack of opportunities for participation in social, political and economic decision-making processes.
Today’s ratification by Ecuador means that the Convention, along with an optional protocol that will allow individuals and groups to petition for relief, will be legally binding as of 3 May. Tunisia and Jordan also ratified the treaty earlier this week.
Through today’s statement, the Secretary-General also congratulated the States that have ratified or acceded to the Convention. Some 126 countries have signed the Convention since 30 March 2007, and 71 have signed the optional protocol.
“It is estimated that there are at least 650 million persons with disabilities worldwide, of whom approximately 80 percent live in less developed countries,” Ms. Okabe noted.
As many as two-thirds of United Nations Member States do not have any legal protection for people with disabilities, according to the UN Focal Point on Disability Akiko Ito, even though they comprise one in 10 of the global population.
“The Convention, together with its Optional Protocol, is deeply rooted in the firm commitment of the international community to rectifying the egregious neglect and dehumanizing practices that violate the human rights of persons with disabilities,” Ms. Okabe concluded, calling on all States that have not yet done so to accede or ratify it without delay.
In a statement issued this past weekend, more than 20 UN departments, agencies, programmes, and funds pledged their support to implementing the convention.
The newly-formed Inter-Agency Support Group for the Convention said that support will focus on six main areas: policies to support the purpose and objectives of the Convention; programmes including international cooperation; capacity-building of Member States, civil society, and the UN system; research and access to knowledge on disabilities; accessibility; and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Source:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=26199&Cr=&Cr1=