Draft Article 24
PARTICIPATION IN CULTURAL LIFE, RECREATION, LEISURE AND SPORT¹⁰⁸

• States Parties recognise the right of all persons with disabilities to take part in cultural life, and shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities:
  • have the opportunity to develop and utilise their creative, artistic and intellectual potential, not only for their own benefit, but also for the enrichment of their community;
  • enjoy access to literature and other cultural materials in all accessible formats, including in electronic text, sign language and Braille, and in audio and multi-media formats;
  • enjoy access to television programmes, films, theatre, and other cultural activities, in all accessible formats, including captioning and sign language;
  • enjoy access to places for cultural performances or services, such as theatres, museums, cinemas, libraries and the hospitality industry, and, as far as possible, enjoy access to monuments and sites of national cultural importance;
• States Parties shall take all appropriate steps to ensure that laws protecting intellectual property rights do not constitute an unreasonable or discriminatory barrier to access by persons with disabilities to cultural materials, while respecting the provisions of international law.
• Persons who are deaf shall be entitled, on an equal basis with others, to recognition and support of their specific cultural and linguistic identity.¹⁰⁹
• States Parties recognise the right of persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others,¹¹⁰ to participate in recreational, leisure and sporting activities and shall take appropriate measures to:
  • encourage and promote the participation, to the fullest extent possible, of persons with disabilities in mainstream sporting activities at regional, national and international levels;¹¹¹
  • ensure that persons with disabilities have an opportunity to organise and participate in sporting activities and to receive the same instruction, training and resources in support that is available to other participants;
  • ensure that persons with disabilities have access to sporting and recreational venues, and that children with disabilities have equal access to participating in sporting activities with the education system;
  • ensure that persons with disabilities have access to services from those involved in the organisation of recreational, leisure and sporting activities.

Footnotes:

108: The Ad Hoc Committee may wish to consider whether and how the concept of accessibility could be expanded under this draft Article.

109: The Ad Hoc Committee may wish to consider whether this provision would be more appropriately placed under another draft article.

110: Some members of the Working Group considered that "on an equal basis with others" should be deleted from this paragraph, and that sub-paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) should instead include an obligation on States Parties to remove discriminatory barriers, both environmental and societal, to the enjoyment of these rights. Other members expressed the view that "on an equal basis with others" should be retained, because sporting, recreational and leisure organisations and facilities wewre often within the private sector. The Ad Hoc Committee may wish to consider this issue further.

111: Some members of the Working Group emphasised the importance of mainstreaming sporting activities for persons with disabilities. Others indicated that this obligation would need to be balanced with the promotion of separate sporting activities and organisations that are tailored to the needs and abilities of persons with disabilities, as well as disability specific sports that may not be included in mainstream sporting events. The Ad Hoc Committee may wish to consider how best to incorporate these views.

Relevant references:

International human rights conventions and legal instruments

Disability-specific instruments

Jurisprudence of human rights treaty bodies

Other documents

Summary of discussions at the Working Group

Comments on the draft text

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