NEWS RELEASE - Times are changing: “It’s not just about benefiting, but contributing=?UT

Times are changing: “It’s not just about benefiting, but contributing to development” – UN expert on disabilities 

NEW YORK (26 October 2016) – States need to know how to ensure that persons with disabilities are both benefiting from and contributing to development, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, Catalina Devandas Aguilar, told the UN General Assembly, today.

“Persons with disabilities should have a leading say on the policies that impact them,” Ms. Devandas Aguilar noted during the presentation of her report* on disability-inclusive policies. “In the end, it is persons with disabilities who are determining if a policy is inclusive– not the other way around.”

The report provides clear guidance aimed to prepare States and other international actors to design their policies with persons with disabilities in mind and to respond with new ways to the commitment of leaving no one behind.

In that regard, the report focuses on practical recommendations in respect to each of the three essential components against which the inclusiveness of a policy should be assessed: non-discrimination, accessibility and support service requirement.  

“The delivery of disability specific support and affordable assistive devices is perhaps one of the biggest challenges, in both developed and developing countries, but at the same time an essential precondition if we are really aiming at achieving equality in practice,” Ms. Devandas Aguilar said.

“Action and full cooperation will be required from a broad range of actors,” the Special Rapporteur underlined. “However, representative organisations of persons with disabilities need to be closely consulted in all policy development and implementation processes, whether disability-specific or mainstream.”

The new report to the UN General Assembly points at the dual nature of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which is a human rights instrument but also a development tool.

“Human rights and development are inextricably linked, whereas the Convention can offer normative guidance for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals can propel unprecedented progress in implementing human rights on the ground,” the independent expert said.

“This is an exceptional time when new policies and reforms aimed at aligning national frameworks to the global goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are gaining traction,” she stated.  

“We need to use this critical opportunity to address inclusion of persons with disabilities at the core of development policies. Times are changing ... No more excuses!” the UN Special Rapporteur appealed, expressing particular concern at the inequality experienced by persons with disabilities worldwide.

(*)  Check the Special Rapporteur’s full report: http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/71/314

ENDS

Ms. Catalina Devandas-Aguilar (Costa Rica) was designated as the first Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities in June 2014 by the UN Human Rights Council. Ms. Devandas Aguilar has worked extensively on disability issues at the national, regional and international level with the Disability Rights Advocacy Fund, the UN unit responsible for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the World Bank. Her work has focused on the rights of women with disabilities and the rights of indigenous peoples with disabilities. Learn more, log on to:  http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Disability/SRDisabilities/Pages/SRDisabilitiesIndex.aspx

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

Read the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/ConventionRightsPersonsWithDisabilities.aspx

For more information and media requests, please contact: Ms. Alina Grigoras (+41 22 91 79289 / agrigoras@ohchr.org) or write to srdisability@ohchr.org

You can access this press release at:  http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20765&LangID=E  

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts:

Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)  

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