Final report of the Special Rapporteur of the
Commission for Social Development on monitoring the
implementation of the Standard Rules on the Equalization
of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities
5 of 9   
V. ACTIVITIES OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR
A. Promoting implementation of the Standard Rules
In accordance with the purpose of the monitoring - to further the effective
implementation of the Rules - the Special Rapporteur has endeavoured to use all available
opportunities to present the Rules, their background, message and function. During the 30
months since he began monitoring in August 1994, he has had discussions with 20 individual
Governments, of which 15 were of developing countries or countries in transition. On all
those occasions he has also involved the national organizations of disabled people. He has
participated in about 35 international conferences and has held meetings with all the
major United Nations agencies with responsibilities in the disability field. During the
entire monitoring exercise he has had extensive correspondence and communication with
numerous individuals, who in different ways have been involved in the monitoring task.
1. Meetings with Governments
Meetings with individual Governments have been initiated mainly in two ways.
In many cases the Special Rapporteur has been invited directly by Governments interested
in discussing various aspects of the implementation of the Rules. In some cases the
Special Rapporteur has suggested to Governments that a meeting should be held, as he was
attending a conference in the country or in a neighbouring one.
The character of the talks has varied, owing to the situation in the particular
country. In some cases Governments wished to present their new initiatives in the
disability field to the Special Rapporteur and discuss various aspects of implementation
(Japan, China, Mexico, India). Other visits have been made to countries in transition,
where Governments wished to discuss how the disability issue could be integrated into the
reconstruction or reorientation of governmental policy (South Africa, the Palestinian
Authority, Estonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Czech Republic).
In some cases the Special Rapporteur's visit has resulted in written recommendations
for future measures (the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Czech Republic).
During all these visits, the Special Rapporteur has established contacts with existing
organizations of disabled people and tried to involve other organizations and agencies in
the disability field. The representatives of organizations of disabled persons have, in
some cases, been invited by their Governments to participate in his deliberations with
various ministries. The general impression of the Special Rapporteur is that his visits
have often vitalized the dialogue between Governments and organizations. In some cases he
has been able to suggest new initiatives to the organizations. In a few cases he has
functioned as a mediator, suggesting a compromise. Such mediation has often concerned the
establishment of a coordinating council, the composition and function of such a body.
2. Conferences
In view of the great importance of the non-governmental organizations in the disability
field in advocating the implementation of the Standard Rules, the Special Rapporteur has
given high priority to his participation in major events organized by such organizations.
In fact, he has attended almost all world congresses and assemblies arranged by the six
organizations constituting the panel of experts. He has also attended numerous other
international conferences. Some of those conferences have been jointly organized by
Governments, specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations. A very useful type
of conference for promoting the implementation of the Standard Rules has been the regional
conference, with the participation of Governments and organizations. One such regional
conference, held at Abidjan was of particular interest, as it was organized jointly by the
three specialized agencies, ILO, UNESCO and WHO, in collaboration with UNDP. Participants
came from Governments, organizations and the agencies referred to.
The participation of the Special Rapporteur has usually consisted in a general
presentation of the Standard Rules, often followed by a workshop or a seminar where
various aspects of the implementation work have been discussed. Through his participation
at so many international meetings, the Special Rapporteur has reached numerous persons
with different functions from a large number of countries with his message. At some of the
world congresses organized by the international non-governmental organizations, more than
100 countries have been represented. Finally, he has also been invited to speak at
universities, county councils, research seminars and seminars on development cooperation.
3. Correspondence and communications
The correspondence in connection with the Special Rapporteur's various activities has
been extensive. He has been asked to send written statements, which have been used in
various texts. He has written a number of articles for magazines for the international
non-governmental organizations, WHO and the European Union. He has provided advice
concerning various implementation aspects, and in some cases people have raised individual
issues with him. Owing to the extensive network of contacts he has developed during the
monitoring task, the Special Rapporteur has often handled requests for speakers on the
Standard Rules for various meetings and conferences.
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