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UN Programme on Disability   Working for full participation and equality

Monitoring the implementation of
the Standard Rules on the
Equalization of Opportunities
for Persons with Disabilitiess

Note of the Secretary-General
E/CN.5/2000/3

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Thirty-eighth session
8-17 February 2000
Item 3 (b) of the provisional agenda*
Follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development:
Review of relevant United Nations plans and programmes of action pertaining to the situation of social groups

Page 1 of 4 Next

Annex:
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 on his second mission, 1997-2000

1. At its forty-eighth session, the General Assembly adopted the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, contained in the annex to its resolution 48/96 of 20 December 1993.1 The 22 Rules provide a framework to further the goals of "equality" and "full participation" of disabled persons in social life and development, set forth in the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons.2

2. In section IV, paragraph 2, of the Standard Rules, it is stipulated that the Rules shall be monitored within the framework of the sessions of the Commission for Social Development. The appointment of a Special Rapporteur to monitor their implementation within the framework of the Commission for Social Development was also envisaged in that paragraph.

3. In March 1994, the Secretary-General appointed Bengt Lindqvist (Sweden) as Special Rapporteur on Disability of the Commission for Social Development. The Special Rapporteur prepared a report for the consideration of the Commission for Social Development at its thirty-fourth session.3 On the basis of that report and the findings of the Commission's working group, the Commission adopted resolution 34/2 entitled "Monitoring the implementation of the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities".4 In that resolution, the Commission took note with appreciation of the report of the Special Rapporteur and of his recommendations and welcomed his general approach to monitoring, including the emphasis to be placed on advice and support to States in the implementation of the Rules.

4. At its thirty-fifth session in 1997, the Commission for Social Development considered the report of the Special Rapporteur on monitoring the implementation of the Standard Rules for the period from 1994 to 1996.5 The Commission took note with appreciation of the valuable work done by the Special Rapporteur, decided to renew his mandate for a further three years and requested the Special Rapporteur to prepare a report for submission to the Commission at its thirty-eighth session in 2000.6

5. In section IV, paragraph 12, of the Rules, it is further stipulated that at its session following the end of the Special Rapporteur's mandate, the Commission should examine the possibility of either renewing that mandate, appointing a new Special Rapporteur or considering another monitoring mechanism, and should make appropriate recommendations to the Economic and Social Council. The present mandate of the Special Rapporteur will come to an end in 2000. The Commission is requested to make its recommendations in that regard to the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly.

6. It might be recalled that the activities of the Special Rapporteur and his panel of experts are funded by voluntary contributions.7 During his two 3-year mandates, from 1994 to 1997 and from 1998 to 2000, respectively, 10 Governments and the National Council on Disability of the United States of America8 contributed some US$ 750,000 to a special trust fund account established by the Secretary-General to finance the activities of the Special Rapporteur. The Government of Sweden provided financial and in kind support to maintain the office of the Special Rapporteur. The Government of Canada made a direct financial contribution. Draft working data on contributions received and expenditures in support of the two mandates are presented in tables 1 and 2, respectively, as at 15 November 1999, and will be updated to 31 July 2000.

Table 1

Contributions through the United Nations earmarked for the activities of the Special Rapporteur from August 1994 to July 2000

(United States dollars)

Country

Aug. 1994-
July 1995

Aug. 1995-
July 1996

Aug. 1996-
July 1997

Subtotal
Aug. 1994-
July 1997

Aug. 1997-
July 1998

Aug. 1998-
July 1999

Aug. 1999-
July 2000

Subtotal
Aug. 1997-
July 2000

Total
Aug. 1994-
July 2000

Austria

9 094

8 110

17 204

7 941

7 602

15 543

32 747

China

10 000

10 000

10 000

30 000

10 000

10 000

10 000

30 000

60 000

Denmark

100 000

100 000

100 000

100 000

200 000

Finland

10 000

10 000

20 000

0

20 000

Iceland

0

5 000

5 000

5 000

Japan

10 000

10 000

10 000

30 000

9 100

7 500

7 500

24 100

54 100

Netherlands

83 052

83 052

39 695

39 695

122 747

Norway

49 978

25 000

74 978

50 000

50 000

124 978

Philippines

0

3 000

3 000

3 000

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

31 146

31 146

0

31 146

National Council on Disability of the United States of America

24 500

25 000

49 500

25 000

25 000

74 500

Other

0

0

Redeployment from United Nations Voluntary Fund on Disability sub-allotment account for Working Group on Standard Rules

30 000

30 000

0

30 000

Total

219 072

75 646

171 162

465 880

47 100

220 136

25 102

292 338

758 218

Table 2

Expenditures relating to earmarked activities of the Special Rapporteur from August 1994 to July 2000

(United States dollars)

 

Description/ activity

Aug. 1994-
July 1995

Aug. 1995-
July 1996

Aug. 1996-
July 1997

Subtotal
Aug. 1994-
July 1997

Aug. 1997-
July 1998

Aug. 1998-
July 1999

Aug. 1999-
July 2000

Subtotal
Aug. 1998-
July 2000

Total
Aug. 1994-
July 2000

Honorarium

20 000

20 000

20 000

60 000

24 000

24 000

24 000

72 000

132 000

Panel of experts meetings

38 273

37 260

48 585

124 118

54 432

54 432

178 550

(New York, 15-17 February 1995)

   

(New York, 10-14 June 1996)

 

(Ferney-Voltaire, France,
20-25 May 1997)

             
(Ferney-Voltaire, France,
20-22 October 1998)

Travel of Special Rapporteur and his assistant

27 056

47 497

61 773

136 326

14 377

49 773

15 540

79 690

216 016

Subtotal

526 566

Add 13% support

 

68 454

Total

595 020

7. During the two mandates of the Special Rapporteur, a number of Governments and organizations of persons with disabilities at national, regional and interregional levels have submitted requests for co-financing assistance from the Voluntary Fund on Disability for building national capacities to further implement the Standard Rules. These data for approved and pipeline projects as at 15 November 1999 are summarized in table 3. The selected project experiences are discussed in reports of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons (E/CN.5/1999/5 and A/54/388 and Add.1).

Table 3

Capacity-building projects related to the Standard Rules supported by United Nations Voluntary Fund on Disability (1997-1999)

Project No. Country/region Short title Implementing agency

Total budget (United States $)

Grant
(United States $)

Africa
MAU/99/D10 Mauritania (Nouakchott) Séminaire sous-régional magrébin sur les Rčgles (Nouakchott, December 1999) Action pour le développement social en Mauritania

99 600

40 100

MOZ/97/D33 Regional Southern Africa Workshop on equalization of opportunities: legislation, gender and the socio-economic situation of landmine victims, women and children with disabilities (Maputo, 10-13 August 1999) Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled (Zimbabwe)

87 000

28 200

RAF/99/D36* Senegal (Dakar) Seminar for francophone member States of the African Rehabilitation Institute on "Standard Rules on Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (Dakar, December 1999) African Rehabilitation Institute (Dakar office)

35 168

28 000

ZIM/97/D28 Zimbabwe (Harare) First African Rehabilitation Institute seminar on the Standard Rules (Harare, 11-13 February 1998) African Rehabilitation Institute (Zimbabwe office), in cooperation with International Disability Foundation

22 800

13 300

Asia and Pacific
 

INT/99/D27*

Hong Kong Interregional seminar and symposium on international norms and standards relating to disability Equal Opportunities Commission, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China, in cooperation with Hong Kong University, Faculty of Law, Centre for Comparative and Public Law

95 000

70 000

Latin America and the Caribbean
MEX/96/D24 Mexico (Guadalajara) Workshop on promoting accessible urban environments in preparation for 1998 World Assembly of Disabled Peoples' International at Guadalajara (Guadalajara, Mexico, 19-25 August 1997) Disabled Peoples' International in cooperation with Municipality of Guadalajara, State of Nayarit, and Government of Mexico

70 000

30 000

RLA/97/D17 Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo) Training of trainers in monitoring the implementation of the Standard Rules in Central America and the Caribbean (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 13-18 April 1998) Disabled Peoples' International in cooperation with the Government of Dominican Republic and the Associación Dominicana de Rehabilitación, and with the participation of the Federación Nacional Dominicana de Discapacitados

66 000

49 000

Interregional
INT/98/D30 Berkeley (California, United States of America) Consultative Expert Meeting on Law and Disability Policies (Berkeley, California, United States of America, 8-12 December 1998) World Institute on Disability in association with University of California at Berkeley

50 000

35 000

Total

     

525 568

293 600

* Pending financial approval.

8. The final report of the Special Rapporteur on monitoring the implementation of the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities during his second mandate is annexed to the present note.


Notes

1 www.un.org/esa/socdev/dissre00.htm.

2 A/37/351/Add.1 and Add.1/Corr.1, annex, sect. VIII (www.un.org/esa/socdev/diswpa00.htm).

3 A/50/374, annex.

4 Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1995, Supplement No. 4 (E/1995/24), chap. I, sect. E.

5 A/52/56, annex (www.un.org/esa/socdev/dismsre0.htm).

6 Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1997, Supplement No. 6 (E/1997/26), chap. I, sect. A, subsequently adopted as Economic and Social Council resolution 1997/19 of 21 July 1997.

7 General Assembly resolution 48/96, annex, sect. IV, para. 2.

8 The Government of Sweden provides in-kind support for the operations of the Office of the Special Rapporteur in Stockholm.

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