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ADHOC COMMITTEE ON
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Ad Hoc Committee : Contributions
: United Nations SystemDrafting a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Promotion and Protection of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with DisabilitiesSubmitted by the World Health Organization (WHO) |
The World Health Organization (WHO) is pleased to have the opportunity to respond to the note verbale of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities.
WHO fully supports the drafting of an International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities as an important instrument to further protect and promote the rights of persons with disabilities.
As requested, we are structuring this response along your outline for contributions and proposals for a convention:
WHO would like to stress the importance of health as a central component of this new instrument. As defined in our Constitution, "health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." In this regard, WHO particularly emphasizes the importance of taking a holistic approach to disability which includes prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and support. WHO feels that the critical link between poverty and disability, and conversely disability and poverty, should be explicitly addressed in the convention.
WHO understands the objectives of the convention to be the following. The convention will establish internationally agreed upon, legally binding norms and standards in the area of disability and human rights. The convention will set out government obligations towards persons with disabilities to ensure equalization of opportunities, the elimination of discrimination, and integration and active participation in all aspects of community life (i.e. economic, social, cultural, political and civil activities) and decision-making processes (e.g. development and implementation of legislation, policies, plans, programmes, etc.).
WHO would like to highlight key guiding principles to be embodied in the convention. WHO stresses the importance of viewing disability as a human rights issue and in that vein, sees the convention as an instrument that will underline the notion that persons with disabilities have equal rights and opportunities in relation to other citizens. This requires an emphasis on an inclusive society and fosters the active involvement and participation of persons with disabilities. The elimination of stigma and discrimination through advocacy, public awareness campaigns, the formulation of appropriate policies, programmes, and legislation, and education is also key.
WHO believes in the empowerment of persons with disabilities and thus the promotion of their independence and autonomy as individuals. The contents of the convention should conform with the principle of least restrictive alternative to ensure that individuals with disabilities have the right to the least restrictive treatment under the least restrictive circumstances.
WHO believes the convention should provide for access to appropriate health care services that adhere to agreed-upon standards when providing treatment and living facilities for persons with disabilities. Such health care services include community health, mental health and rehabilitation services. These services, along with any activities for persons with disabilities, should be mainstreamed into general health care systems and facilities. In discussing services, the principle of reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities should serve as the guiding principle.
Regarding care, WHO would like to emphasize the importance of providing support to families and caregivers of people with disabilities, including but not limited to the provision of positive compensatory measures.
WHO stresses the importance of taking into account physical, psychiatric, intellectual and sensory impairments when defining disability in the new convention. In addition, disability should encompass visible and invisible, as well as permanent and temporary, impairments. WHO underscores the importance of taking gender into account and ensuring applicability to all age groups when drafting the new convention.
WHO is committed to provide technical assistance and expertise within its mandate and looks forward to participating in the negotiation process. In addition, WHO strongly supports the full participation of people with disabilities and their organizations, national and international, in the drafting of the convention. People with disabilities and their organizations should also be actively involved in national consultations related to the drafting of the convention that are undertaken by Member States.
WHO underscores the importance of building on existing instruments and conventions relating to disabilities and sees the new convention as a complementary step in the process of protecting and promoting the rights of persons with disabilities. WHO particularly emphasizes the need to harmonize the new convention with the monitoring mechanism in the United Nations Standard Rules on Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities.
Finally, WHO wishes to underscore our commitment to this process of drafting a new convention and hopes that the Ad Hoc Committee will call on WHO's technical expertise in health-related issues during the formulation of a new convention.