Affiliates menu

Report on the workshop: “Accelerate the Implementation of Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”

It was a rich learning experience to me and my colleague Mr. Ramesh Nanduri, to participate in the 4 day Workshop to “Accelerate the Implementation of Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”. At the outset, the Organisers in the Asia-Pacific Region took a lot of care in involving highly experienced representatives from about 22 countries. Each of them participated quite actively and gave very rich and quality inputs and were very pragmatic in their suggestions.

There were discussions on various issues and over the 4 day period, several recommendations were arrived at, after detailed discussions on each issue. The highlights of the recommendations to DPI-AP and UNESCAP are as follows:

  1. Emphasis on the issues of Persons with Disabilities in the rural and remote areas, internally displaced persons with disabilities, persons with psycho-social and intellectual disabilities, women, children and aged with disabilities, persons with disabling medical conditions and others who may not be considered in the present categories of persons with disabilities identified by Law or customary practices in the countries of the Region: most of the participants were quite anxious to make sure that the acceleration of the implementation of the UNCRPD process and that it will take into consideration the inclusion of the excluded categories of persons with disabilities as well as due care is given for the Reasonable Accommodation and access to both physical, mobility and communication infrastructure in all the countries of the Region. I think these anxieties are prompted by the experiences of exclusion either by policy/law makers or because of the ignorance prevailing in the societies: hence the inclusion of an additional Para in the final draft to elaborate the definition of the DPOs.

  2. Emphasis on the need for DPO leadership: Participants unanimously recommended for the leadership of the DPOs and their active participation in all matters related to policy and governance of all State Parties and to make sure of the same, it was suggested that the document will include a recommendation to bring the leadership of the DPOs into the decision making bodies - political, legal, developmental, implementation and monitoring processes of every country in the Region.

  3. Emphasis on the full legal capacity to all persons with disabilities (Article. 3,12 of UNCRPD) including persons with intellectual and psycho-social disabilities and transformation of all the policies and laws to make sure of legal compliance with UNCRPD in every country in the Region; participants recommended that foreclosing any possibility of either patriarchal or patronising forms of discrimination, all the State Parties must recognise the full legal capacity of every person with disabilities including persons with intellectual/psycho-social disabilities and emphasised the urgency of the necessary transformations/amendments to the existing policies and laws including existing persons with disabilities laws and policies and amendments to the country Constitutions to make sure of the legal compliance with the UN legal and customary obligations in all countries of the Region.

  4. Emphasis on the need for the promotion of access and independent living: Participants unanimously supported the concept of independent living of all persons with disabilities and recommended for the need for specific arrangements in terms of access to legal, economic/social, physical/communicational/mobility and political/cultural infrastructure for all persons with disabilities.

  5. Emphasis on the need for the mandatory legal guidelines as part of policy and law for persons with disabilities to experience reasonable accommodation: participants unanimously recommended for the mandatory legal guidelines for the reasonable accommodation as part of policy and law framework with respect to the needs of persons with disabilities to realise/experience all the rights.

  6. Emphasis on the need for creation of human resources to bring awareness on the rights of persons with disabilities: participants recommended for the creation of human resources to bring awareness among all the stake holders including persons with disabilities, politicians, policy makers, bureaucrats, professionals, parents and members of the civil society on the rights of persons with disabilities.

  7. Emphasis on the role of UNESCAP to promote inter-governmental strategies for the implementation and monitoring of the UNCRPD: participants recommended that recognising the ratification by the countries and need for the ratification of UNCRPD and the Optional Proto call by the rest of the countries in the Region. UNESCAP must a. create an international fund, b. seek co-operation from grassroots to National level DPOs and c. evolve strategies for advocacy and lobbying for implementation and monitoring of the UNCRPD.

  8. Emphasis on the creation of the binding legal mechanism at grassroots, National, sub-Regional and Regional levels for adjudication/monitoring the adjudication to protect/promote the rights of persons with disabilities: Participants were quite happy/excited with the idea and recommended for a legal mechanism at all levels. Yet, some were sceptical about the possibility of its functions in relation to the questions of National Sovereignty.

Other important points discussed at the Workshop:

The Role of DPOs in DRTAP:

  1. Make the right real: decade of action: DPOs actions at grassroots, national, subregional and Regional levels.

  2. Implementation of decent work in sub-Region: Global business and Disability Network

  3. Mainstreaming Disability Perspective in Development Agenda using sub-regional approach

  4. The Pacific region as a good practice

  5. DPOs United: mechanism to support sub-regional approach beyond 2012

  6. Campaign to action: lesson learned from Japan

  7. Campaign to action by utilising the sub-regional approach

  8. Presentation: how international development agency contributes to DPOs in developing countries (new Asia Pacific Decade)

  9. Community based development from individual empowerment to organisational empowerment

    To share an impact: independent living movement from individual to public and bring disability issues to human rights issues

  10. Disability Rights Tribunal Asia Pacific (DRTAP)

    DRTAP will play its role as a pillar in the human rights system by providing expeditious and accessible processes to assist Persons with disabilities to resolve complaints brought before the Human Rights Court and to determine complaints where the parties are unable to resolve them.

    • To promote a rally event
    • To promote an internship program
    • To share the idea of DPO united process
  11. Strategies for the New Asia Pacific Decade
  12. New Delhi Declaration and adoption

Some comments:

  1. Regional leaders must understand the need of writing the shadow report to engage with issues of persons with disabilities and to create evidence based data for advocacy.

  2. All of us must learn to know the different ways of realising the rights experiences of persons with disabilities. Such realisation will help us understand the need for intensive engagement with policy and laws: hence the realisation of the reasonable accommodation.

  3. Sub regional or regional Tribunals must work in conjecture with DPO Networks, National Human Rights Commissions, National, local Legal Services

Authorities and existing/emerging Disability rights commissions.

Pavan.