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Article 23 - Social security and an adequate standard of living

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Sudan

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Comments, proposals and amendments submitted electronically

Governments


SUDAN

PROPOSAL ON DRAFT ARTICLE 23
SOCIAL SECURITY AND ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING:


-Add to article 23 f the phrase in bold so it would read as follows:


Ensure that persons with disabilities are able to access life and health insurance, where applicable, without discrimination on the basis of disability.


- Add to article 23-2 the phrase in bold so it would read as follows:


States parties recognize the right of all persons with disabilities to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families, including and not confined to, adequate food, clothing, housing and access to clean water, and to the cntinuous improvement of living conditions, and will undertake appropriate steps to safeguard and promote the realization of this right.

 



Non-governmental organizations


CHILDREN's RIGHTS ALLIANCE FOR ENGLAND

Article 23
Social security and an adequate standard of living


1. States Parties recognize the right of all persons with disabilities to social security, including social insurance, and to the enjoyment of that right without discrimination on the basis of disability, and shall take appropriate steps to safeguard and promote the realization of this right, including measures to:


(a) Ensure access by persons with disabilities to necessary services, devices and other assistance for disability-related needs;


(b) Ensure access by persons with disabilities, particularly women and girls with disabilities and the aged with disabilities, to social security programmes and poverty-reduction strategies, and to take into account the needs and perspectives of persons with disabilities in all such programmes and strategies;


(c) Ensure access by persons with severe and multiple disabilities, and their families, living in situations of poverty to assistance from the State to cover disability-related expenses (including mobility and access to leisure and recreational facilities and adequate training, counselling, financial assistance and respite care), which should not become a disincentive to develop themselves;


(d) Ensure access by persons with disabilities to governmental housing programmes, including through earmarking percentages of governmental housing for persons with disabilities, including young adults with disabilities leaving the family home;


(e) Ensure access by persons with disabilities to tax exemptions and tax benefits in respect of their income;


(f) Ensure that persons with disabilities are able to access life and health insurance without discrimination on the basis of disability.


2. States Parties recognize the right of all persons with disabilities to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families, including adequate food, clothing, housing and access to clean water, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions, and will undertake appropriate steps to safeguard and promote the realization of this right.

 

INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY CAUCUS


Draft Article 23: Adequate standard of living

States Parties recognize the right of all persons with disabilities to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families, including adequate food, clothing, shelter and housing and access to clean water, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions, and will undertake appropriate steps to safeguard and promote the realization of this right, including measures that:

a. Ensure equitable access by all persons with disabilities, particularly women and girls with disabilities and aged persons with disabilities, and their families to governmental poverty eradication strategy and program, including international aid programs and ensure the participation of people with disabilities in the definition and implementation of such programs.

b. Ensure the access by all persons with disabilities to housing or shelter owned or administered by public authorities, public agencies and private entities without any discrimination on the grounds of disability and ensure the participation of people with disabilities in the definition and implementation of programs and policies related to shelter and housing.

c. Ensure that persons with disabilities can freely exercise and enjoy their right to shelter and housing, which includes:

i. security of tenure and freedom from forced eviction
ii. the shelter and housing are constructed and maintained to provide for physical safety of occupants and protection from environmental threats to health, structural hazards and disease vectors,
iii. the shelter and housing are affordable and do not compromise the ability of persons with disabilities to secure other basic needs,
iv. persons with disabilities are not required to accept unwanted treatment or services as part of the housing or shelter program or as a condition for security of tenure.

d) States Parties shall develop programs to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to affordable water, including for persons who require additional quantities of water for personal and domestic needs and for those with difficulties in physically accessing sanitation and water supply points and facilities.

Draft Article 23bis: Rights to social security

1. States Parties recognize the right of all persons with disabilities to social security, including social insurance and social assistance, and to the enjoyment of that right without discrimination on the basis of disability, and shall take appropriate steps to safeguard and promote the realization of this right, including measures to:


a) Ensure access by persons with disabilities to necessary services, devices and other assistance for disability-related needs;


b) Provide assistance to people with disability and their families to meet the extra costs they each incur because of disability (including adequate training, counseling, financial assistance, tax exemption, housing adaptation, transportation and respite care).


c) Ensure that autonomy is preserved in the delivery of social services, including by prohibiting the bundling of services (making provision of any service contingent on acceptance of any other service) and that services always contribute to the full participation of people with disability in the community.


d) Ensure that persons with disabilities are able to access life and health insurance without discrimination on the basis of disability in public agencies and private companies.


2. States Parties shall undertake periodic reviews of their systems of social security, including employee compensation, to ensure that adequate support is provided and that no undue obstacles are inadvertently placed in the way of persons with disabilities in entering employment, retaining their job or occupation, or returning to the open labor market and paid employment.

 

 

LANDMINE SURVIVORS NETWORK



Draft Article 23 – SOCIAL SECURITY

SYNTHESIS OF PROPOSALS

1. States Parties recognise the right of all persons with disabilities to social security, including social insurance and assistance, and to the enjoyment of that right without discrimination on the basis of disability, and shall take appropriate steps to safeguard and promote the realisation of this right, including measures to:

(a) ensure entitlement and access by persons with disabilities to necessary support, services, devices and other assistance for disability related needs;


(b) ensure access by persons with disabilities, particularly women and girls with disabilities, older persons with disabilities, and members of minority groups with disabilities, to social security programmes and poverty reduction strategies, and to take into account the needs and perspectives of persons with disabilities in all such programmes and strategies;


(c) ensure entitlement and access to assistance to persons with disabilities and their families to meet the extra costs they each incur because of disability, including adequate training, counselling, financial assistance, taxation exemptions and respite care; and


(d) ensure that persons with disabilities are able to access life and health insurance without discrimination on the basis of disability in public and private institutions.

2. States Parties shall undertake periodic reviews of their systems of social security, including employee compensation, to ensure that adequate support is provided and that no undue obstacles are inadvertently placed in the way of persons with disabilities in entering employment, retaining their job or occupation, or returning to the open labour market and paid employment.

COMMENTS


Draft Article 23, as drafted by the Working Group, combined rights in relation to social security with rights in relation to an adequate standard of living. In keeping with the proposal of some delegations (Argentina, Mexico) and consistent with the separate articulation of these human rights in the CRC and the ICESCR, these rights are here covered in two separate articles.

Social security; as a holistic term comprising both social assistance and social insurance. The concept of social assistance refers to the basic relief given to those who cannot obtain a living in the open market. The concept of social insurance refers to systems of social security paid within an insurance scheme by employees and employers. Such insurance can include work accidents, temporary unemployment insurance, or old age pensions. Social insurance applies to those in the work force, but not the unemployed or self-employed, or those employed in the informal sector. Consequently, social assistance and social insurance together reflect a comprehensive approach to social security. They relate to particular types of financial support schemes and as such have been treated in stand-alone provisions in other international instruments (and indeed are the subject of an entire ILO Convention). Further, the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development includes a commitment to develop and implement policies to ensure that people with disabilities have adequate economic and social protection.

Draft Article 23(1): The term “social security” is the most widely used terminology in human rights law so we prefer the use of this term for consistency.

Draft Article 23(1)(a) addresses access to “services, devices and other assistance” related to “disability-related needs.” As noted in FN 100 of the Working Group Draft Text, some elements of this paragraph may be covered in Draft Article 20 (Personal Mobility - in this text it has become an article on support services). Consistent with obligations set forth in the CRC relating to social security (Article 26) as well as the UNSR, Rule 8, it is essential that Article 23 retain language concerning access so as to ensure that the take-up of benefits by people with disabilities is barrier-free and that the process of applying for benefits does not discriminate against any people with disabilities (e.g., those in remote areas, those with visual impairments).
Draft Article 23(1)(b) makes explicit reference to ensuring the access of people with disabilities to social security programs and poverty reduction strategies. It also makes important reference to particularly marginalized groups of people with disabilities. A number of delegations emphasized the need to ensure the inclusion of language concerning equitable access of people with disabilities to poverty elimination strategies (Brazil, Cuba, Bahrain, New Zealand).

The provision in Draft Article 23(1)(b) also mentions the need to take into account “the needs and perspectives of persons with disabilities” in such programs, reflecting, among others, the principle of participation.

Draft Article 23(1)(c) has been reformulated to help avoid defining what constitutes a severe disability and noting the objection of many delegations to this language. (Philippines, Brazil, Thailand, Kenya, Israel, Canada, Palestine) The article now focuses directly on it central objective, namely, the determination of the costs associated with providing appropriate assistance to people with disabilities or their families. The language also takes into account the concerns of some delegations that this provision should not be overly prescriptive and should take into account the many and varying social structures across countries. While the article should not be prescriptive in providing how social security should be delivered, to be meaningful it must ensure that people with disabilities are able to receive social security without discrimination, social stigma, or deprivation of any other rights. Social security should be delivered in accordance with privacy rights and public information campaigns on benefit entitlements must be accessible to people with disabilities.

Draft Article 23(1)(c) deletes the language “which should not become a disincentive to develop themselves” on the grounds that special measures are not a disincentive to personal development, but rather a precondition to it. Such language is, in any event, paternalistic and contrary to the guiding principles of the convention.

Draft Article 23(1)(d) introduces the important concept of non-discrimination against people with disabilities in the context of obtaining life and health insurance. Given that non-discrimination is an underlying principle of the Convention, its specific applicability to this context is essential. Eligibility terms must be non-discriminatory and non-stigmatizing.

Draft Article 23(2) incorporates a system of review, consistent with the proposal put forward by the International Labour Organization. (Cf. ILO Submission, third session of the Ad Hoc Committee, May 2004) The monitoring of social security serves a two-fold function. First, it ensures the adequacy of support. Second, it ensures that social security provisions do not constitute a disincentive to vocational rehabilitation, vocational training or employment (‘Benefits trap’) for people with disabilities. This is consistent with the deletion proposed in Article 23(1)(c), because it continues to focus on the requirement of support, while ensuring that this support does not prevent access to employment opportunities. (Cf. Submission to the Ad Hoc Committee of the Australian National Association of Community Legal Centres, People With Disability Australia, Inc., Australian Federation Disability Organisations)

Some delegations referenced the need to make clear that this article is subject to the concept of progressive realization. Should a provision on progressive realization in relation to certain rights be included in Draft Article 4 (General Obligations), it need not receive explicit mention in Draft Article 23.

Draft Article 23bis - ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING

SYNTHESIS OF PROPOSALS

1. States Parties recognise the right of all persons with disabilities to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families, including basic services, adequate food, clothing, housing and access to clean water, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions, and shall take appropriate steps to achieve the full realisation of this right.

2. With regard to the right to adequate food, States Parties undertake to ensure that food is:

(a) available in a quantity and quality sufficient to satisfy the dietary needs of persons with disabilities; and
(b) both physically and economically accessible.

3. With regard to the right to adequate housing, States Parties undertake:

(a) to engage in no act or practice of discrimination on the grounds of disability in relation to housing policies and programmes and to take all appropriate measures to ensure that all public authorities, public institutions and private entities shall act in conformity with this obligation; and
(b) to guarantee the full participation of persons with disabilities in the elaboration and implementation of housing-related legislation reflective of their needs.

4. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities can freely enjoy and exercise their right to housing and can participate fully and equally within society. Steps to be taken by the States Parties should ensure that housing for persons with disabilities:

(a) is accessible;
(b) provides security of tenure and freedom from forced
eviction;
(c) provides for the physical safety of occupants and protection from threats to health, structural hazards and disease vectors;
(d) is affordable and does not compromise the ability of persons with disabilities to secure other basic needs;
(e) contains all facilities essential for health, security, comfort and nutrition; and
(f) is located in appropriate proximity to support services, employment options, health care services and other social facilities.

5. States Parties shall develop programmes to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to affordable water, including for persons who require additional quantities of water for personal and domestic needs and for those with difficulties in physically accessing sanitation and water supply points and facilities.

6. States Parties shall ensure equitable access by persons with disabilities to government regional development programmes and poverty elimination strategies, including international aid programmes.

COMMENTS
Draft Article 23bis (formerly covered in Working Group Draft Text Article 23(2)) incorporates the well-established international human rights to an adequate standard of living and, importantly, applies that right to the situation of people with disabilities. (Cf. UDHR, Article 25; ICESCR, Article 22(1); CRC, Article 27) Reporting guidelines associated with State reporting on progress in relation to this right ask States to report on whether the standard of living of all social groups has improved over time and to report on the situation of the poorest sectors of society. Given that more than 80% of the world’s population of people with disabilities live in the developing world and that they are typically among the poorest of the poor, the specific application of this right to the situation of people with disabilities in this Convention is essential. The mere abundance of food, housing, water or clothing does not automatically mean that people with disabilities will enjoy these internationally recognized rights. Such essentials must be affordable and physically accessible, and people with disabilities are often doubly disadvantaged. (Cf. Centre for Housing Rights and Evictions Submission to the third session of the Ad Hoc Committee, May 2004)


Draft Article 23bis(2): The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights detailed the normative content of the right to food, while noting it is a progressive right. The Committee stated that the core content of the right implies a) “[t]he availability of food in a quantity and quality sufficient to satisfy the dietary needs of individuals, free from adverse substances, and acceptable within a given culture” and, in addition, b) “[t]he accessibility of such food in ways that are sustainable and that do not interfere with the enjoyment of other human rights.” (General Comment No. 12 on the Right to Adequate Food, Para. 8). The Committee has specifically identified people with disabilities as a group whose access to food often denied.


Draft Article 23bis(3) and (4): The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has identified certain aspects of the right to housing that must be taken into account to determine whether particular forms of shelter constitute “adequate housing” under the ICESCR. (Cf. General Comment No. 4 on the Right to Adequate Housing) These elements include: availability of services, material, facilities and infrastructure, affordability, accessibility and habitability. All of these components are highly relevant in terms of the barriers that people with disabilities face in fully enjoying their right to housing.


In addition, discrimination, particularly in the housing field, often remains a major problem for people with disabilities. In that respect, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has recognized that the effects of disability-based discrimination have been particularly severe in the field of housing. Indeed, people with disabilities often face multiple layers of discrimination based on grounds such as sex, gender, race ethnicity and/or age.


The formulation provided in 23bis(3) and (4) avoids being too prescriptive, but ensures protection both in the public and private housing sectors. (Cf. Centre for Housing Rights and Evictions Submission to the third session of the Ad Hoc Committee, May 2004)

Draft Article 23bis(5): The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has indicated that “the human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights.” (Cf. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment 15, 2002, para. 1) As highlighted by the Committee, people with disabilities often face difficulties with physical access to water, raising issues of availability, affordability and accessibility with regard to the enjoyment of the right to water. In this regard, the Committee has emphasized the need to protect against discrimination against people with disabilities with regard to the enjoyment of this right. (Cf. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment 15, 2002, paras. 13, 16(h)) Accordingly, this Convention should take into account the current interpretation of the right under international human rights law and include a reference to “water.”

Draft Article 23bis(6): A provision on poverty reduction is appropriate in the context of an adequate standard of living. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has stated that the right to an adequate standard of living has a “direct and immediate bearing upon the eradication of poverty.” (Poverty and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: statement adopted 4 May 2001 by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (E/C.12/2001/10), para. 1) The proposed text recognizes that link and acknowledges that people with disabilities are often among the poorest sectors of society and must have equitable access to poverty alleviation programs.

 


 


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