Comprehensive and integral international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities [A/RES/59/198]

A/RES/59/198
Original: English
20 December 2004

Fifty-ninth session
Third Committee
Agenda item 105 (b)
Human Rights questions: human rights quiestions, including
alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment
of human rights and fundamental freedoms¹

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 56/168 of 19 December 2001, by which it decided to establish an Ad Hoc Committee open to the participation of all Member States and observers to the United Nations, to consider proposals for a comprehensive and integral international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities, based on a holistic approach in the work done in the fields of social development, human rights and non-discrimination and taking into account the recommendations of the Commission on Human Rights and the Commission for Social Development,

Recalling also its resolution 58/246 of 23 December 2003, as well as relevant resolutions of the Commission for Social Development and the Commission on Human Rights,

Reaffirming the universality, indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and the need for persons with disabilities to be guaranteed their full enjoyment without discrimination,

Convinced of the contribution that a convention can make in this regard, and encouraged by the increased support of the international community for such a convention,

Stressing the importance of the active participation of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions in the work of the Ad Hoc Committee, and their valuable contribution to the promotion of the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by persons with disabilities,

Underlining the importance of the participation of the Special Rapporteur on disability of the Commission for Social Development in the work of the Ad Hoc Committee,

Recognizing the important contributions made thus far to the Ad Hoc Committee by all stakeholders,

Welcomes the report 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;
Requests the Secretary-General to transmit the report of the Ad Hoc Committee to the Commission for Social Development at its forty-third session and to the Commission on Human Rights at its sixty-first session, and further requests both Commissions to continue to contribute to the work of the Ad Hoc Committee;
Welcomes with satisfaction the beginning of the negotiations by the Ad Hoc Committee on a draft convention at its third session, as requested by General Assembly resolution 58/246, and the progress achieved so far in the negotiation of a draft convention;
Invites Member States and observers to continue to participate actively and constructively in the Ad Hoc Committee with a view to an early conclusion of a draft text of a convention, in order to submit it to the General Assembly, as a matter of priority, for its adoption;
Decides that the Ad Hoc Committee shall hold, within existing resources, prior to the sixtieth session of the General Assembly, two sessions in 2005, of ten working days each, to be held, respectively, from 24 January to 4 February and in July/August;
Underlines the importance of further strengthening the cooperation and coordination between the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat in order to provide technical support to the work of the Ad Hoc Committee, and in this regard invites them to provide, in advance of the meetings of the Ad Hoc Committee, background documentation to assist Member States and observers in the negotiation of a draft convention, and to organize, in close connection and timing with the meetings and venue of the Ad Hoc Committee, meetings of experts and seminars in relation to the draft convention, within existing resources;
Requests the Secretary-General to continue to provide the Ad Hoc Committee with the facilities necessary for the performance of its work, and in this context invites the Secretary-General to reallocate resources to the United Nations Programme on Disability so as to provide support to the negotiations on a draft convention;
Stresses the need for additional efforts to ensure accessibility at the United Nations, with reasonable accommodation regarding facilities and documentation, for all persons with disabilities, in accordance with General Assembly decision 56/474 of 23 July 2002;
Encourages Member States to continue to include in their delegations to the Ad Hoc Committee persons with disabilities and/or other experts in the field;
Urges Member States, observers, civil society and the private sector to contribute to the voluntary fund established pursuant to its resolution 57/229 of 18 December 2002 to support the participation of non-governmental organizations and experts from developing countries, in particular least developed countries, in the work of the Ad Hoc Committee;
Requests the Secretary-General to disseminate widely to non-governmental organizations all available information on accreditationprocedures, modalities and supportive measures for their participation in the work of the Ad Hoc Committee, as well as the criteria for the financial assistance that is available through the voluntary fund;
Also requests the Secretary-General to transmit a comprehensive report of the Ad Hoc Committee and to report on the implementation of paragraphs 6, 7, 8 and 11 of the present resolution to the General Assembly at its sixtieth session.