The International Disability Rights Monitor (IDRM)

Recent weeks have seen a fair amount of activity related to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – a number of the key milestones and events are outlined here.

The United Nations convened the 4th session of the Conference of States Parties (COSP) to the CRPD. Unlike other treaties, the COSP meets every year. There were over 600 participants in this year’s “Enabling Development, Realizing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities through Participation, Employment and International Cooperation” themed COSP session. Attendees represented governments, UN agency family members, the international disability community, and members of civil society.

During the three-day session, the COSP focused on a number of formal and informational interventions. Focused on inclusive development, the first roundtable session allowed for a discussion of how to realize the CRPD through international cooperation. During the discussion, Article 32 of the CRPD and the role of international cooperation were reaffirmed, and new modalities for providing aid to meet the needs of mainstream disability in development were addressed.

The second roundtable discussion focused on ensuring effective and full participation of individuals with disabilities in public and private life, as addressed in Article 29 of the CRPD. This session focused on identifying the progress made to date and barriers to political and public participation that still exist. Strategic recommendations were made to ensure the realization of disability-inclusive and accessible political progress. One of the primary concerns addressed was a lack of physical accessibility, which continues to be a major barrier to the full and effective inclusion of individuals with disabilities in public and political life. In order for the CRPD to be fully implemented, participants noted, individuals with all types of disabilities, including those with psycho-social or cognitive disabilities, must not be deprived of access to the political process.

In addition to the formal roundtable discussions, an informal session was held to discuss individuals’ with disabilities right to employment. Participants noted that individuals with disabilities are twice as likely to be unemployed than their peers without disabilities. The importance of comprehensive reforms, including development strategies to ensure accessible labor markets, the need for a firm policy framework against discrimination, and the importance of enforcing accessibility and education were all discussed.

The United Nations system also provided a presentation on their implementation of the CRPD, and outlined how UN programs had been used to ensure its implementation in countries and regions worldwide. The role of the UN organizations in fostering collaboration among governments, UN entities, and civil society to further the promotion of the CRPD was highlighted.

The 6th session of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, held between September 19 ad 23, followed the COSP. The opening session of the Committee meeting was led by Chairman Ronald McCallum, who provided and update on the number of countries who had submitted initial reports during 2011. Since the Committee meeting held in April, 16 reports had been received by the Secretariat, including Mexico, Korea, Belgium, and Ecuador.

The Chairman went on to address the Committee’s need to increase the number of reports. Mr. McCallum suggested an examination of collaboration across treaty bodies, particularly the Human Rights Council. Further, he stressed that the Committee had emerged as a group whose central purpose was to conduct constructive dialogues with States parties, and to work alongside national human rights agencies and civil society. To date, Spain’s report is the second of the 16 submitted to be considered, and a list of issues related to the reports of Peru and China have been adopted.

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Two leading U.S. civil rights groups – Disability Rights Advocates and the Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled – recently filed a suit claiming that the city of New York and Mayor Michael Bloomberg placed people with disabilities in life-threatening situations by failing to take their “unique needs” into consideration when planning for emergencies and disasters. The organizations taking the action claim that major disasters in New York City, including the terrorist attacks on September 11^th and the destruction of the recent hurricane have highlighted the lack of resources the city has in place to meet the needs of its 900,000 citizens with disabilities during emergency situations.

During the response to Hurricane Irene reports indicate that 75 percent of the designated emergency shelters in New York were not fully accessible to wheelchair users,  the televised emergency announcements did not include American Sign Language for individuals with low hearing or deafness, and the evacuation maps from the city were not useable by persons with low vision or blindness. In addition, the modes of transport allowed for evacuation of some areas relied heavily on school busses, which lacked lifts for wheelchair users. At the heart of the suit is the claim that the city is violating federal and state anti-discrimination laws by failing to make emergency plans, shelters, announcements, and transportation fully accessible to individuals with physical disabilities. Both Disability Rights Advocates and the Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled are seeking a court order to force the city to revamp its emergency preparation plan to account for the needs of persons with disabilities, including ensuring accessible transportation, shelter, communication, notification, and assistance during disaster recovery.

This is not the first case focused on inadequate emergency preparedness for persons with disabilities to be taken in the U.S. In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita civil rights groups made claims focusing on the inadequacy of the emergency responses which led to loss of life, and resulted in persons with disabilities being displaced from their homes and placed in inappropriate and inaccessible shelters. The loss of life and danger faced by persons with disabilities during and following Hurricane Katrina was highlighted by Marcie Roth, Director of the Office of Disability Integration and Coordination (FEMA) in a written statement to the House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Emergency Communications, Preparedness, and Response. Director Roth recounted her attempts to assist individuals with disabilities who contacted her office, and the difficulties these individuals faced.

To date the majority of inclusive emergency preparedness planning has taken place at the international level in rural areas. Despite the lessons learned regarding the need for inclusive emergency responses following Hurricane Katrina, many of the same issues were seen following Hurricane Irene. Nations which have ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities are now required to ensure that individuals with disabilities are protected in situations of risk. In addition in some nations, including the United States,  the inclusion of individuals with disabilities in emergency response planning is required by federal agencies.

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