Press Conference on Disabilities Convention Negotiations

 

The Committee charged with drafting the first-ever international convention to promote the rights of people with disabilities had been making steady progress -- in addressing such issues as promotion of positive attitudes, equality and non-discrimination, right to life and other substantive rights -- towards realization of a legally binding framework for promoting the rights of the world’s 600 million people with disabilities, correspondents were told at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.

Briefing the press on the outcome of the fourth session of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, which is concluding its work today, was that body’s Chairman, Luis Gallegos of Ecuador.

Mr. Gallegos said that work had been going on since 2001, based on General Assembly resolution 56/168 and in the context of addressing poverty and promoting social integration to create just and equitable societies based on participation of all citizens as stakeholders.  The work of the Committee placed the basic norms and substantive disability-specific rights within a broad human rights framework related to the advancement of persons with disabilities.  In that process, the specific experience of persons with disabilities was being translated into a human rights framework and accompanying practices.

The Committee’s fourth session had started on 23 August, he continued, and today, on the last day of its work, it was expected to adopt a report on its work and decide on the next stage of its historical endeavour.  The draft text submitted by the Working Group covered 25 articles and the preamble, encompassing such issues as general principles and obligations, the right to work and equal recognition before the law with a disability focus.  The fourth session had before it a draft text with the proposed revisions and amendments contained in the report of the Committee’s previous session.  Work continued on the issues referred to it by the third session, structure, part of the preamble, monitoring and some new elements for draft articles.

The Committee completed the first reading of the draft and reviewed articles 1 through 15 of the proposed instrument, on the basis of the proposed revisions and amendments contained in the report of the Committee’s third session.  During the session, it had identified possible approaches, narrowed down the options and made steady progress for agreement on a number of critical issues in the negotiations.

Review of the draft articles required close examination of substantive issues on disability and human rights and a great number of informal regional or bilateral consultations by members of the Committee, he said.  The negotiations had been marked by well-aligned views and very few contested positions.  The challenge of the convention was to articulate a human rights framework and application of its articles in the disability context.  It was also important to translate disability-specific needs into the legal provisions of a treaty.  The session had brought together the voice of the emerging disability movement and the “lived experience” of persons with disabilities into the treaty-making process of the Ad Hoc Committee.  It had also given that experience a legal expression and interpretation in policy and programmatic texts.

A broad consultative process prior to the session had been instrumental in the successful collaboration of all stakeholders from both governmental and non-governmental communities, he continued.   A working partnership with non-governmental organizations and disabled persons’ organizations continued to be essential to successful collaboration on the convention.

Turning to the next phase of work, he added that the Committee expected to continue its work in 2005, with two or three sessions envisioned next year.  Crucial at the next stage were development and adoption of the widely supported plan for the future work of the Committee, benchmarks and identification of key issues.

In conclusion, he said that the convention would transform human society into a new community of stakeholders in disability rights, through the establishment of international legal standards.  It would clarify the content of human rights principles and their application to persons with disabilities, provide an authoritative global reference point for domestic laws and policies, provide mechanisms for monitoring, establish a standard of assessment and achievement and provide a framework for international cooperation.  The work of the Committee in articulating the human rights of persons with disabilities as a “lived experience” in the lives of persons with disabilities could be an entry point for realization of a society that would value difference and respect the equality of all human beings, regardless of their “differences”.

The changing nature of disability and the realization that it was an inevitable part of the life of any individual or society required that the new convention be a living document, which would allow interpretation across a variety of contexts –- temporal, cultural and other dimensions of human life.  Above all, the international convention on the rights of persons with disabilities related to the issue of human dignity.

To a question about a target date for completing work on the draft, Mr. Gallegos emphasized the complex nature of the issue and said that, should delegations continue to work as diligently, the new instrument could be completed next year. There was fundamental agreement on the fact that the convention was needed.  Being an optimist, he would target September 2005 -– the time the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals was to be reviewed -- for the convention to be ready.  That would depend on the process of negotiations, however.  “If we miss that mark, it will take us much more time”, for the dynamics of the process would be lost, he added.

Asked to elaborate on the issue of the right to life, he said that it was addressed in article 8 of the draft convention, but he would not like to make personal comments on the matter.

Responding to a question about the position of the United States in the negotiations on the text, he said that the question should have been addressed to the delegation of the United States.  However, he could repeat, almost verbatim, what that country had said, that is, that the United States would not sign and ratify the convention, but it would be helpful in the process of negotiations, and he thanked them for their contribution.

Asked to provide reassurance that the new instrument would not be “just one more convention that would not be enforced”, he said that he viewed it as a change in society, because it could change the way societies viewed themselves and promote integration of the disabled people into society.  The basic reasoning was that there were some 600 million people with disabilities all over the world, 450 million of them living in developing countries.  As the world aged, the number of people with disabilities was not expected to diminish.  That underscored the importance of the new treaty.  The convention would be enforceable -- protecting and promoting the human rights of people with disabilities.  It would also promote an understanding of “disability”.  It was time to seize the opportunity to introduce a revolutionary change in the way societies viewed people with disabilities.

From a personal perspective, he added that he had enormous respect for people with disabilities.  In Conference Room 4, he had seen some 200 people with disabilities who had come to New York to promote their cause and negotiate the new convention.  Witnessing their effort, one understood the reality of their lives.  He knew that the convention would not satisfy all, but he also knew that there was a commonality of interests within various societies to make progress in promoting the rights of some 10 per cent of the world’s population.

To a question regarding the number of countries represented at the Committee, he responded that over 100 countries were taking part in the work on the convention, some represented by regional groups.  About 75 countries had been active in formulating proposals and participating in negotiations.

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