Global Headlines

EDF launches alternative report on the rights of persons with disabilities

Written by DRPI on .
Brussels, 18 March 2015 | EDF is very happy to announce that it has submitted its Alternative Report on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities (UN CRPD) in Europe to the United Nations Committee.EDF Alternative Report has been prepared in the frame of the review process of the EU by the UN Committee in Geneva. During its 13th session on 2 April 2015, the UN Committee will examine for the first time the report that the EU has submitted describing the work it has done to put in practice the principles of the UN CRPD since its ratification in 2010.

EDF Alternative Report comes to give the view of 80 million Europeans with disabilities on the enjoyment of their political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights. The report is the result of a collective work with EDF’s members, civil society organisations and other stakeholders. Giving a clear view on the situation of persons with disabilities all over Europe would not have been possible without their contribution and expertise. The purpose of EDF’s Alternative Report is to inform the UN Committee about how the UN CRPD has been implemented by the European Union and its institutions, agencies and bodies. The report based its analysis on the gaps in the EU Report on the Implementation of the UN CRPD that the EU submitted to the UN Committee on 5 June 2014 and seeks to complement it where relevant with information received by EDF members and other stakeholders.

WHAT COMES NEXT?

– April: The Committee will adopt the ‘List of Issues’, which is a list of additional questions and requests for clarification that the UN Committee has, and the EU will reply.
– Last week of August 2015: The Committee will hold its ‘Constructive Dialogue’ with the EU and will adopt its final observations and recommendations on how the EU can improve the situation of 80 million persons with disabilities in Europe.

In April and August 2015, EDF will be in Geneva to defend its report and express to the UN Committee its main concerns on the implementation of the Convention by the EU.

DID YOU KNOW THAT…
The UN CRPD is first human rights treaty to ever have been ratified by a regional organisation, like the EU?
 

 Download EDF Alternative Report here (in accessible PDF format with Easy-To-Read translation)