Geneva, 15 September 2014 – Today the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities opens its 12th session (15 September – 3 October 2014) in which it will review New Zealand, Mexico, Korea, Belgium, Ecuador and Denmark.
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee) is the body of independent experts which monitors implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) by the States Parties. All States Parties are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee on how the rights of persons with disabilities are being implemented. The Committee examines each report, holds an interactive dialogue with the State delegation in a public session and makes recommendations on the steps which should be taken to improve CRPD implementation.
Following the 12th session, the CRPD Committee will hold its pre-sessional week from 7-10 October 2014 during which it will adopt the list of issues on Croatia, Czech Republic, Turkmenistan, Dominican Republic, Cook Islands and Mongolia.
Programme of Work
The following public sessions will be held at the Committee’s 12th session and will be webcast live (all times indicated are Geneva local time- CET):
Monday 15 September
• 10am- Opening (English audio & International Sign- one channel)
• 3pm- Review of New Zealand (English / NZ Sign Language / International Sign- one channel)
Tuesday 16 September
• 10am- Review of New Zealand continued (English & Spanish audio / NZ Sign Language / International Sign – two channels)
• 3pm- Review of Mexico (Spanish & English audio / Mexican Sign Language / International Sign)
Wednesday 17 September
• 10am- Review of Mexico continued
• 3pm- Review of Korea (Korean & English audio / International Sign)
Thursday 18 September
• 10am- Review of Korea continued
• 3pm- Review of Belgium (French & English audio / French Belgian Sign Language / International Sign)
Friday 19 September
• 10am- Review of Belgium continued
Monday 22 September
• 3pm- Review of Ecuador (Spanish & English audio / Ecuadoran Sign Language/ International Sign)
Tuesday 23 September
• 10am- Review of Ecuador continued
• 3pm- Review of Denmark (English & Spanish audio / Ecuadoran Sign Language/ International Sign)
Wednesday 24 September
• 10am- Review of Denmark continued
For more information on the 12th session, please visit the Committee’s session website.
Side events
During this session, the following private country-specific briefings* will take place before the Committee:
• New Zealand, Monday 15 September, 1.45-2.45pm
• Mexico, Tuesday 16 September,1.45-2.45pm
• Korea, Wednesday 17 September, 1.45-2.45pm
• Belgium, Thursday 18 September, 1.45-2.45pm
• Ecuador, Monday 22 September, 1.45-2.45pm
• Denmark, Tuesday 23 September, 1.45-2.45pm
* These events are only open to UN agencies, NHRIs, DPOs and civil society and will not be webcast.
In addition, the following public side events will take place and will be webcast live by IDA:
• Tuesday 16 September, 9-10am- side event on persons with albinism organised by Under the Same Sun
• Friday 19 September, 1.30-2.45pm- side event on independent living organised by and the European Network of Independent Living
• Wednesday 24 September, 9-10am- side event on women and girls with disabilities organised by Human Rights Watch & IDA
• Wednesday 24 September, 1.45-2.45pm- side event on international cooperation organised by IDDC & IDA
• Friday 26 September, 1.15pm-2.45- side event on the participation of children with disabilities organised by Inclusion Europe, Eurochild, Lumos, UNICEF & IDA
• Tuesday 30 September, 1.45pm-2.45pm- side event on the Economic Costs of Exclusion and Gains of Inclusion of People with Disabilities organised by CBM
State reports and civil society reports
All relevant reports for this session – national reports presented by States under review, Committee’s adopted list of Issues and States’ written replies to the list of issues, as well as submissions and reports submitted by DPOs, NGOs and National Human Rights Instituions (NRHIs)- are available on the Committee’s 12th session website
Latest submissions by DPOs related to country reviews:
• New Zealand Disabled Person’s Organisations Report
• Acclaim Otago Shadow report on New Zealand
• Autistic Minority International submission on New Zealand
• Submission by Mexican Coalition for the rights of persons with disabilities (COAMEX) in response to the list of issues
• Parallel report of the Korean DPO and NGO Coalition for UNCRPD
• Korean Alliance on Mental Illness (KAMI) Parallel report in English, Spanish, French and Chinese
• Korean Disability Forum Parallel report
• Submission by the Belgian Disability Forum in response to the list of issues
• Submission on Belgium by GRIP in response to the list of issues
• Submission by Disabled Peoples’ Organisation- Denmark in response to the list of issues and annex on reinstitutionalisation
• Submission by Faroe Islands Union for the Handicapped in response to the list of issues
Live webcasting
Public sessions of the CRPD Committee (including country reviews of New Zealand, Mexico, Korea, Belgium, Ecuador and Denmark) will be webcast live at www.treatybodywebcast.org
International Sign interpretation of the public discussions will also be webcast live, and two channels will be running with English audio and one additional language audio respectively. Exceptionally, on the first day of the session there will be only one channel running with sign language interpretation and English audio (due to an overlap of sessions with the CRC Committee).
All webcasts will be archived for subsequent viewing at
http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/category/webcast-archives/crpd/