Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities
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Preamble
The States Parties to the present Convention,
(a) Recalling the principles proclaimed in the Charter
of the United Nations which recognize the inherent dignity and worth
and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human
family as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
(b) Recognizing that the United Nations, in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the International
Covenants on Human Rights, has proclaimed and agreed that everyone
is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth therein,
without distinction of any kind,
(c) Reaffirming the universality, indivisibility,
interdependence and interrelatedness of all human rights and
fundamental freedoms and the need for persons with disabilities to
be guaranteed their full enjoyment without discrimination,
(d) Recalling the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment, the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of
All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families,
(e) Recognizing that disability is an evolving concept
and that disability results from the interaction between persons
with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that
hinders their full and effective participation in society on an
equal basis with others,
(f) Recognizing the importance of the principles and
policy guidelines contained in the World Programme of Action
concerning Disabled Persons and in the Standard Rules on the
Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities in
influencing the promotion, formulation and evaluation of the
policies, plans, programmes and actions at the national, regional
and international levels to further equalize opportunities for
persons with disabilities,
(g) Emphasizing the importance of mainstreaming
disability issues as an integral part of relevant strategies of
sustainable development,
(h) Recognizing also that discrimination against any
person on the basis of disability is a violation of the inherent
dignity and worth of the human person,
(i) Recognizing further the diversity of persons with
disabilities,
(j) Recognizing the need to promote and protect the
human rights of all persons with disabilities, including those who
require more intensive support,
(k) Concerned that, despite these various instruments
and undertakings, persons with disabilities continue to face
barriers in their participation as equal members of society and
violations of their human rights in all parts of the world,
(l) Recognizing the importance of international
cooperation for improving the living conditions of persons with
disabilities in every country, particularly in developing countries,
(m) Recognizing the valued existing and potential
contributions made by persons with disabilities to the overall
well-being and diversity of their communities, and that the
promotion of the full enjoyment by persons with disabilities of
their human rights and fundamental freedoms and of full
participation by persons with disabilities will result in their
enhanced sense of belonging and in significant advances in the
human, social and economic development of society and the
eradication of poverty,
(n) Recognizing the importance for persons with
disabilities of their individual autonomy and independence,
including the freedom to make their own choices,
(o) Considering that persons with disabilities should
have the opportunity to be actively involved in decision-making
processes about policies and programmes, including those directly
concerning them,
(p) Concerned about the difficult conditions faced by
persons with disabilities who are subject to multiple or aggravated
forms of discrimination on the basis of race, colour, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic, indigenous
or social origin, property, birth, age or other status,
(q) Recognizing that women and girls with disabilities
are often at greater risk, both within and outside the home of
violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment,
maltreatment or exploitation,
(r) Recognizing that children with disabilities should
have full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms on
an equal basis with other children, and recalling obligations to
that end undertaken by States Parties to the Convention on the
Rights of the Child,
(s) Emphasizing the need to incorporate a gender
perspective in all efforts to promote the full enjoyment of human
rights and fundamental freedoms by persons with disabilities,
(t) Highlighting the fact that the majority of persons
with disabilities live in conditions of poverty, and in this regard
recognizing the critical need to address the negative impact of
poverty on persons with disabilities,
(u) Bearing in mind that conditions of peace and
security based on full respect for the purposes and principles
contained in the Charter of the United Nations and observance of
applicable human rights instruments are indispensable for the full
protection of persons with disabilities, in particular during armed
conflicts and foreign occupation,
(v) Recognizing the importance of accessibility to the
physical, social, economic and cultural environment, to health and
education and to information and communication, in enabling persons
with disabilities to fully enjoy all human rights and fundamental
freedoms,
(w) Realizing that the individual, having duties to
other individuals and to the community to which he or she belongs,
is under a responsibility to strive for the promotion and observance
of the rights recognized in the International Bill of Human Rights,
(x) Convinced that the family is the natural and
fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by
society and the State, and that persons with disabilities and their
family members should receive the necessary protection and
assistance to enable families to contribute towards the full and
equal enjoyment of the rights of persons with disabilities,
(y) Convinced that a comprehensive and integral
international convention to promote and protect the rights and
dignity of persons with disabilities will make a significant
contribution to redressing the profound social disadvantage of
persons with disabilities and promote their participation in the
civil, political, economic, social and cultural spheres with equal
opportunities, in both developing and developed countries,
Have agreed as follows :
Article 1 Purpose
The purpose of the present Convention is to promote, protect and
ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and
fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to
promote respect for their inherent dignity.
Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term
physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in
interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and
effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.
Article 2 Definitions
For the purposes of the present Convention:
“Communication” includes languages, display of text, Braille,
tactile communication, large print, accessible multimedia as well as
written, audio, plain-language, human-reader and augmentative and
alternative modes, means and formats of communication, including
accessible information and communication technology;
“Language” includes spoken and signed languages and other forms
of non-spoken languages;
“Discrimination on the basis of disability” means any
distinction, exclusion or restriction on the basis of disability
which has the purpose or effect of impairing or nullifying the
recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal basis with others,
of all human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political,
economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field. It includes
all forms of discrimination, including denial of reasonable
accommodation;
“Reasonable accommodation” means necessary and appropriate
modification and adjustments not imposing a disproportionate or
undue burden, where needed in a particular case, to ensure to
persons with disabilities the enjoyment or exercise on an equal
basis with others of all human rights and fundamental freedoms;
“Universal design” means the design of products, environments,
programmes and services to be usable by all people, to the greatest
extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized
design. “Universal design” shall not exclude assistive devices for
particular groups of persons with disabilities where this is needed.
Article 3 General principles
The principles of the present Convention shall be:
(a) Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy including
the freedom to make one's own choices, and independence of persons;
(b) Non-discrimination;
(c) Full and effective participation and inclusion in society;
(d) Respect for difference and acceptance of persons with
disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity;
(e) Equality of opportunity;
(f) Accessibility;
(g) Equality between men and women;
(h) Respect for the evolving capacities of children with
disabilities and respect for the right of children with disabilities
to preserve their identities.
Article 4 General obligations
1. States Parties undertake to ensure and promote the full
realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all
persons with disabilities without discrimination of any kind on the
basis of disability. To this end, States Parties undertake:
(a) To adopt all appropriate legislative, administrative and
other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in
the present Convention;
(b) To take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to
modify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices
that constitute discrimination against persons with disabilities;
(c) To take into account the protection and promotion of the
human rights of persons with disabilities in all policies and
programmes;
(d) To refrain from engaging in any act or practice that is
inconsistent with the present Convention and to ensure that public
authorities and institutions act in conformity with the present
Convention;
(e) To take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
on the basis of disability by any person, organization or private
enterprise;
(f) To undertake or promote research and development of
universally designed goods, services, equipment and facilities, as
defined in article 2 of the present Convention, which should require
the minimum possible adaptation and the least cost to meet the
specific needs of a person with disabilities, to promote their
availability and use, and to promote universal design in the
development of standards and guidelines;
(g) To undertake or promote research and development of, and to
promote the availability and use of new technologies, including
information and communications technologies, mobility aids, devices
and assistive technologies, suitable for persons with disabilities,
giving priority to technologies at an affordable cost;
(h) To provide accessible information to persons with
disabilities about mobility aids, devices and assistive
technologies, including new technologies, as well as other forms of
assistance, support services and facilities;
(i) To promote the training of professionals and staff working
with persons with disabilities in the rights recognized in this
Convention so as to better provide the assistance and services
guaranteed by those rights.
2. With regard to economic, social and cultural rights, each
State Party undertakes to take measures to the maximum of its
available resources and, where needed, within the framework of
international cooperation, with a view to achieving progressively
the full realization of these rights, without prejudice to those
obligations contained in the present Convention that are immediately
applicable according to international law.
3. In the development and implementation of legislation and
policies to implement the present Convention, and in other
decision-making processes concerning issues relating to persons with
disabilities, States Parties shall closely consult with and actively
involve persons with disabilities, including children with
disabilities, through their representative organizations.
4. Nothing in the present Convention shall affect any provisions
which are more conducive to the realization of the rights of persons
with disabilities and which may be contained in the law of a State
Party or international law in force for that State. There shall be
no restriction upon or derogation from any of the human rights and
fundamental freedoms recognized or existing in any State Party to
the present Convention pursuant to law, conventions, regulation or
custom on the pretext that the present Convention does not recognize
such rights or freedoms or that it recognizes them to a lesser
extent.
5. The provisions of the present Convention shall extend to all
parts of federal states without any limitations or exceptions.
Article 5 Equality and non-discrimination
1. States Parties recognize that all persons are equal before and
under the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the
equal protection and equal benefit of the law.
2. States Parties shall prohibit all discrimination on the basis
of disability and guarantee to persons with disabilities equal and
effective legal protection against discrimination on all grounds.
3. In order to promote equality and eliminate discrimination,
States Parties shall take all appropriate steps to ensure that
reasonable accommodation is provided.
4. Specific measures which are necessary to accelerate or achieve
de facto equality of persons with disabilities shall not be
considered discrimination under the terms of the present Convention.
Article 6 Women with disabilities
1. States Parties recognize that women and girls with
disabilities are subject to multiple discrimination, and in this
regard shall take measures to ensure the full and equal enjoyment by
them of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure
the full development, advancement and empowerment of women, for the
purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and enjoyment of the human
rights and fundamental freedoms set out in the present Convention.
Article 7 Children with disabilities
1. States Parties shall take all necessary measures to ensure the
full enjoyment by children with disabilities of all human rights and
fundamental freedoms on an equal basis with other children.
2. In all actions concerning children with disabilities, the best
interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.
3. States Parties shall ensure that children with disabilities
have the right to express their views freely on all matters
affecting them, their views being given due weight in accordance
with their age and maturity, on an equal basis with other children,
and to be provided with disability and age-appropriate assistance to
realize that right.
Article 8 Awareness-raising
1. States Parties undertake to adopt immediate, effective and
appropriate measures:
(a) To raise awareness throughout society, including at the
family level, regarding persons with disabilities, and to foster
respect for the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities;
(b) To combat stereotypes, prejudices and harmful practices
relating to persons with disabilities, including those based on sex
and age, in all areas of life;
(c) To promote awareness of the capabilities and contributions of
persons with disabilities.
2. Measures to this end include:
(a) Initiating and maintaining effective public awareness
campaigns designed:
(i) To nurture receptiveness to the rights of persons with
disabilities;
(ii) To promote positive perceptions and greater social awareness
towards persons with disabilities;
(iii) To promote recognition of the skills, merits and abilities
of persons with disabilities, and of their contributions to the
workplace and the labour market;
(b) Fostering at all levels of the education system, including in
all children from an early age, an attitude of respect for the
rights of persons with disabilities;
(c) Encouraging all organs of the media to portray persons with
disabilities in a manner consistent with the purpose of the present
Convention;
(d) Promoting awareness-training programmes regarding persons
with disabilities and the rights of persons with disabilities.
Article 9 Accessibility
1. To enable persons with disabilities to live independently and
participate fully in all aspects of life, States Parties shall take
appropriate measures to ensure to persons with disabilities access,
on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to
transportation, to information and communications, including
information and communications technologies and systems, and to
other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both
in urban and in rural areas. These measures, which shall include the
identification and elimination of obstacles and barriers to
accessibility, shall apply to, inter alia:
(a) Buildings, roads, transportation and other indoor and outdoor
facilities, including schools, housing, medical facilities and
workplaces;
(b) Information, communications and other services, including
electronic services and emergency services.
2. States Parties shall also take appropriate measures to:
(a) Develop, promulgate and monitor the implementation of minimum
standards and guidelines for the accessibility of facilities and
services open or provided to the public;
(b) Ensure that private entities that offer facilities and
services which are open or provided to the public take into account
all aspects of accessibility for persons with disabilities;
(c) Provide training for stakeholders on accessibility issues
facing persons with disabilities;
(d) Provide in buildings and other facilities open to the public
signage in Braille and in easy to read and understand forms;
(e) Provide forms of live assistance and intermediaries,
including guides, readers and professional sign language
interpreters, to facilitate accessibility to buildings and other
facilities open to the public;
(f) Promote other appropriate forms of assistance and support to
persons with disabilities to ensure their access to information;
(g) Promote access for persons with disabilities to new
information and communications technologies and systems, including
the Internet;
(h) Promote the design, development, production and distribution
of accessible information and communications technologies and
systems at an early stage, so that these technologies and systems
become accessible at minimum cost.
Article 10 Right to life
States Parties reaffirm that every human being has the inherent
right to life and shall take all necessary measures to ensure its
effective enjoyment by persons with disabilities on an equal basis
with others.
Article 11 Situations of risk and
humanitarian emergencies
States Parties shall take, in accordance with their obligations
under international law, including international humanitarian law
and international human rights law, all necessary measures to ensure
the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations
of risk, including situations of armed conflict, humanitarian
emergencies and the occurrence of natural disasters.
Article 12 Equal recognition before the law
1. States Parties reaffirm that persons with disabilities have
the right to recognition everywhere as persons before the law.
2. States Parties shall recognize that persons with disabilities
enjoy legal capacity on an equal basis with others in all aspects of
life.
3. States Parties shall take appropriate measures to provide
access by persons with disabilities to the support they may require
in exercising their legal capacity.
4. States Parties shall ensure that all measures that relate to
the exercise of legal capacity provide for appropriate and effective
safeguards to prevent abuse in accordance with international human
rights law. Such safeguards shall ensure that measures relating to
the exercise of legal capacity respect the rights, will and
preferences of the person, are free of conflict of interest and
undue influence, are proportional and tailored to the person's
circumstances, apply for the shortest time possible and are subject
to regular review by a competent, independent and impartial
authority or judicial body. The safeguards shall be proportional to
the degree to which such measures affect the person's rights and
interests.
5. Subject to the provisions of this article, States Parties
shall take all appropriate and effective measures to ensure the
equal right of persons with disabilities to own or inherit property,
to control their own financial affairs and to have equal access to
bank loans, mortgages and other forms of financial credit, and shall
ensure that persons with disabilities are not arbitrarily deprived
of their property.
Article 13 Access to justice
1. States Parties shall ensure effective access to justice for
persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others, including
through the provision of procedural and age-appropriate
accommodations, in order to facilitate their effective role as
direct and indirect participants, including as witnesses, in all
legal proceedings, including at investigative and other preliminary
stages.
2. In order to help to ensure effective access to justice for
persons with disabilities, States Parties shall promote appropriate
training for those working in the field of administration of
justice, including police and prison staff.
Article 14 Liberty and security of the person
1. States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities, on
an equal basis with others:
(a) Enjoy the right to liberty and security of person;
(b) Are not deprived of their liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily,
and that any deprivation of liberty is in conformity with the law,
and that the existence of a disability shall in no case justify a
deprivation of liberty.
2. States Parties shall ensure that if persons with disabilities
are deprived of their liberty through any process, they are, on an
equal basis with others, entitled to guarantees in accordance with
international human rights law and shall be treated in compliance
with the objectives and principles of this Convention, including by
provision of reasonable accommodation.
Article 15 Freedom from torture or cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
1. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be
subjected without his or her free consent to medical or scientific
experimentation.
2. States Parties shall take all effective legislative,
administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent persons with
disabilities, on an equal basis with others, from being subjected to
torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 16 Freedom from exploitation,
violence and abuse
1. States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative,
administrative, social, educational and other measures to protect
persons with disabilities, both within and outside the home, from
all forms of exploitation, violence and abuse, including their
gender-based aspects.
2. States Parties shall also take all appropriate measures to
prevent all forms of exploitation, violence and abuse by ensuring,
inter alia, appropriate forms of gender- and age-sensitive
assistance and support for persons with disabilities and their
families and caregivers, including through the provision of
information and education on how to avoid, recognize and report
instances of exploitation, violence and abuse. States Parties shall
ensure that protection services are age-, gender- and
disability-sensitive.
3. In order to prevent the occurrence of all forms of
exploitation, violence and abuse, States Parties shall ensure that
all facilities and programmes designed to serve persons with
disabilities are effectively monitored by independent authorities.
4. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to promote
the physical, cognitive and psychological recovery, rehabilitation
and social reintegration of persons with disabilities who become
victims of any form of exploitation, violence or abuse, including
through the provision of protection services. Such recovery and
reintegration shall take place in an environment that fosters the
health, welfare, self-respect, dignity and autonomy of the
person and takes into account gender- and age-specific needs.
5. States Parties shall put in place effective legislation and
policies, including women- and child-focused legislation and
policies, to ensure that instances of exploitation, violence and
abuse against persons with disabilities are identified, investigated
and, where appropriate, prosecuted.
Article 17 Protecting the integrity of the
person
Every person with disabilities has a right to respect for his or
her physical and mental integrity on an equal basis with others.
Article 18 Liberty of movement and
nationality
1. States Parties shall recognize the rights of persons with
disabilities to liberty of movement, to freedom to choose their
residence and to a nationality, on an equal basis with others,
including by ensuring that persons with disabilities:
(a) Have the right to acquire and change a nationality and are
not deprived of their nationality arbitrarily or on the basis of
disability;
(b) Are not deprived, on the basis of disability, of their
ability to obtain, possess and utilize documentation of their
nationality or other documentation of identification, or to utilize
relevant processes such as immigration proceedings, that may be
needed to facilitate exercise of the right to liberty of movement;
(c) Are free to leave any country, including their own;
(d) Are not deprived, arbitrarily or on the basis of disability,
of the right to enter their own country.
2. Children with disabilities shall be registered immediately
after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right
to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know
and be cared for by their parents.
Article 19 Living independently and being
included in the community
States Parties to this Convention recognize the equal right of
all persons with disabilities to live in the community, with choices
equal to others, and shall take effective and appropriate measures
to facilitate full enjoyment by persons with disabilities of this
right and their full inclusion and participation in the community,
including by ensuring that:
(a) Persons with disabilities have the opportunity to choose
their place of residence and where and with whom they live on an
equal basis with others and are not obliged to live in a particular
living arrangement;
(b) Persons with disabilities have access to a range of in-home,
residential and other community support services, including personal
assistance necessary to support living and inclusion in the
community, and to prevent isolation or segregation from the
community;
(c) Community services and facilities for the general population
are available on an equal basis to persons with disabilities and are
responsive to their needs.
Article 20 Personal mobility
States Parties shall take effective measures to ensure personal
mobility with the greatest possible independence for persons with
disabilities, including by:
(a) Facilitating the personal mobility of persons with
disabilities in the manner and at the time of their choice, and at
affordable cost;
(b) Facilitating access by persons with disabilities to quality
mobility aids, devices, assistive technologies and forms of live
assistance and intermediaries, including by making them available at
affordable cost;
(c) Providing training in mobility skills to persons with
disabilities and to specialist staff working with persons with
disabilities;
(d) Encouraging entities that produce mobility aids, devices and
assistive technologies to take into account all aspects of mobility
for persons with disabilities.
Article 21 Freedom of expression and opinion,
and access to information
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that
persons with disabilities can exercise the right to freedom of
expression and opinion, including the freedom to seek, receive and
impart information and ideas on an equal basis with others and
through all forms of communication of their choice, as defined in
article 2 of the present Convention, including by:
(a) Providing information intended for the general public to
persons with disabilities in accessible formats and technologies
appropriate to different kinds of disabilities in a timely manner
and without additional cost;
(b) Accepting and facilitating the use of sign languages,
Braille, augmentative and alternative communication, and all other
accessible means, modes and formats of communication of their choice
by persons with disabilities in official interactions;
(c) Urging private entities that provide services to the general
public, including through the Internet, to provide information and
services in accessible and usable formats for persons with
disabilities;
(d) Encouraging the mass media, including providers of
information through the Internet, to make their services accessible
to persons with disabilities;
(e) Recognizing and promoting the use of sign languages.
Article 22 Respect for privacy
1. No person with disabilities, regardless of place of residence
or living arrangements, shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful
interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence
or other types of communication or to unlawful attacks on his or her
honour and reputation. Persons with disabilities have the right to
the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
2. States Parties shall protect the privacy of personal, health
and rehabilitation information of persons with disabilities on an
equal basis with others.
Article 23 Respect for home and the family
1. States Parties shall take effective and appropriate measures
to eliminate discrimination against persons with disabilities in all
matters relating to marriage, family, parenthood and relationships,
on an equal basis with others, so as to ensure that:
(a) The right of all persons with disabilities who are of
marriageable age to marry and to found a family on the basis of free
and full consent of the intending spouses is recognized;
(b) The rights of persons with disabilities to decide freely and
responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and to have
access to age-appropriate information, reproductive and family
planning education are recognized, and the means necessary to enable
them to exercise these rights are provided;
(c) Persons with disabilities, including children, retain their
fertility on an equal basis with others.
2. States Parties shall ensure the rights and responsibilities of
persons with disabilities, with regard to guardianship, wardship,
trusteeship, adoption of children or similar institutions, where
these concepts exist in national legislation; in all cases the best
interests of the child shall be paramount. States Parties shall
render appropriate assistance to persons with disabilities in the
performance of their child-rearing responsibilities.
3. States Parties shall ensure that children with disabilities
have equal rights with respect to family life. With a view to
realizing these rights, and to prevent concealment, abandonment,
neglect and segregation of children with disabilities, States
Parties shall undertake to provide early and comprehensive
information, services and support to children with disabilities and
their families.
4. States Parties shall ensure that a child shall not be
separated from his or her parents against their will, except when
competent authorities subject to judicial review determine, in
accordance with applicable law and procedures, that such separation
is necessary for the best interests of the child. In no case shall a
child be separated from parents on the basis of a disability of
either the child or one or both of the parents.
5. States Parties shall, where the immediate family is unable to
care for a child with disabilities, undertake every effort to
provide alternative care within the wider family, and failing that,
within the community in a family setting.
Article 24 Education
1. States Parties recognize the right of persons with
disabilities to education. With a view to realizing this right
without discrimination and on the basis of equal opportunity, States
Parties shall ensure an inclusive education system at all levels and
life long learning directed to:
(a) The full development of human potential and sense of dignity
and self-worth, and the strengthening of respect for human rights,
fundamental freedoms and human diversity;
(b) The development by persons with disabilities of their
personality, talents and creativity, as well as their mental and
physical abilities, to their fullest potential;
(c) Enabling persons with disabilities to participate effectively
in a free society.
2. In realizing this right, States Parties shall ensure that:
(a) Persons with disabilities are not excluded from the general
education system on the basis of disability, and that children with
disabilities are not excluded from free and compulsory primary
education, or from secondary education, on the basis of disability;
(b) Persons with disabilities can access an inclusive, quality
and free primary education and secondary education on an equal basis
with others in the communities in which they live;
(c) Reasonable accommodation of the individual's requirements is
provided;
(d) Persons with disabilities receive the support required,
within the general education system, to facilitate their effective
education;
(e) Effective individualized support measures are provided in
environments that maximize academic and social development,
consistent with the goal of full inclusion.
3. States Parties shall enable persons with disabilities to learn
life and social development skills to facilitate their full and
equal participation in education and as members of the community. To
this end, States Parties shall take appropriate measures, including:
(a) Facilitating the learning of Braille, alternative script,
augmentative and alternative modes, means and formats of
communication and orientation and mobility skills, and facilitating
peer support and mentoring;
(b) Facilitating the learning of sign language and the promotion
of the linguistic identity of the deaf community;
(c) Ensuring that the education of persons, and in particular
children, who are blind, deaf or deafblind, is delivered in the most
appropriate languages and modes and means of communication for the
individual, and in environments which maximize academic and social
development.
4. In order to help ensure the realization of this right, States
Parties shall take appropriate measures to employ teachers,
including teachers with disabilities, who are qualified in sign
language and/or Braille, and to train professionals and staff who
work at all levels of education. Such training shall incorporate
disability awareness and the use of appropriate augmentative and
alternative modes, means and formats of communication, educational
techniques and materials to support persons with disabilities.
5. States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities are
able to access general tertiary education, vocational training,
adult education and lifelong learning without discrimination and on
an equal basis with others. To this end, States Parties shall ensure
that reasonable accommodation is provided to persons with
disabilities.
Article 25 Health
States Parties recognize that persons with disabilities have the
right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health
without discrimination on the basis of disability. States Parties
shall take all appropriate measures to ensure access for persons
with disabilities to health services that are gender-sensitive,
including health-related rehabilitation. In particular, States
Parties shall:
(a) Provide persons with disabilities with the same range,
quality and standard of free or affordable health care and
programmes as provided to other persons, including in the area of
sexual and reproductive health and population-based public health
programmes;
(b) Provide those health services needed by persons with
disabilities specifically because of their disabilities, including
early identification and intervention as appropriate, and services
designed to minimize and prevent further disabilities, including
among children and older persons;
(c) Provide these health services as close as possible to
people's own communities, including in rural areas;
(d) Require health professionals to provide care of the same
quality to persons with disabilities as to others, including on the
basis of free and informed consent by, inter alia, raising awareness
of the human rights, dignity, autonomy and needs of persons with
disabilities through training and the promulgation of ethical
standards for public and private health care;
(e) Prohibit discrimination against persons with disabilities in
the provision of health insurance, and life insurance where such
insurance is permitted by national law, which shall be provided in a
fair and reasonable manner;
(f) Prevent discriminatory denial of health care or health
services or food and fluids on the basis of disability.
Article 26 Habilitation and rehabilitation
1. States Parties shall take effective and appropriate measures,
including through peer support, to enable persons with disabilities
to attain and maintain maximum independence, full physical, mental,
social and vocational ability, and full inclusion and participation
in all aspects of life. To that end, States Parties shall organize,
strengthen and extend comprehensive habilitation and rehabilitation
services and programmes, particularly in the areas of health,
employment, education and social services, in such a way that these
services and programmes:
(a) Begin at the earliest possible stage, and are based on the
multidisciplinary assessment of individual needs and strengths;
(b) Support participation and inclusion in the community and all
aspects of society, are voluntary, and are available to persons with
disabilities as close as possible to their own communities,
including in rural areas.
2. States Parties shall promote the development of initial and
continuing training for professionals and staff working in
habilitation and rehabilitation services.
3. States Parties shall promote the availability, knowledge and
use of assistive devices and technologies, designed for persons with
disabilities, as they relate to habilitation and rehabilitation.
Article 27 Work and employment
1. States Parties recognize the right of persons with
disabilities to work, on an equal basis with others; this includes
the right to the opportunity to gain a living by work freely chosen
or accepted in a labour market and work environment that is open,
inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities. States
Parties shall safeguard and promote the realization of the right to
work, including for those who acquire a disability during the course
of employment, by taking appropriate steps, including through
legislation, to, inter alia:
(a) Prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability with
regard to all matters concerning all forms of employment, including
conditions of recruitment, hiring and employment, continuance of
employment, career advancement and safe and healthy working
conditions;
(b) Protect the rights of persons with disabilities, on an equal
basis with others, to just and favourable conditions of work,
including equal opportunities and equal remuneration for work of
equal value, safe and healthy working conditions, including
protection from harassment, and the redress of grievances;
(c) Ensure that persons with disabilities are able to exercise
their labour and trade union rights on an equal basis with others;
(d) Enable persons with disabilities to have effective access to
general technical and vocational guidance programmes, placement
services and vocational and continuing training;
(e) Promote employment opportunities and career advancement for
persons with disabilities in the labour market, as well as
assistance in finding, obtaining, maintaining and returning to
employment;
(f) Promote opportunities for self-employment, entrepreneurship,
the development of cooperatives and starting one's own business;
(g) Employ persons with disabilities in the public sector;
(h) Promote the employment of persons with disabilities in the
private sector through appropriate policies and measures, which may
include affirmative action programmes, incentives and other
measures;
(i) Ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided to persons
with disabilities in the workplace;
(j) Promote the acquisition by persons with disabilities of work
experience in the open labour market;
(k) Promote vocational and professional rehabilitation, job
retention and return-to-work programmes for persons with
disabilities.
2. States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities are
not held in slavery or in servitude, and are protected, on an equal
basis with others, from forced or compulsory labour.
Article 28 Adequate standard of living and
social protection
1. States Parties recognize the right of persons with
disabilities to an adequate standard of living for themselves and
their families, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and
to the continuous improvement of living conditions, and shall take
appropriate steps to safeguard and promote the realization of this
right without discrimination on the basis of disability.
2. States Parties recognize the right of persons with
disabilities to social protection 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:
(a) To ensure equal access by persons with disabilities to clean
water services, and to ensure access to appropriate and affordable
services, devices and other assistance for disability-related needs;
(b) To ensure access by persons with disabilities, in particular
women and girls with disabilities and older persons with
disabilities, to social protection programmes and poverty reduction
programmes;
(c) To ensure access by persons with disabilities and their
families living in situations of poverty to assistance from the
State with disability-related expenses, including adequate training,
counselling, financial assistance and respite care;
(d) To ensure access by persons with disabilities to public
housing programmes;
(e) To ensure equal access by persons with disabilities to
retirement benefits and programmes.
Article 29 Participation in political and
public life
States Parties shall guarantee to persons with disabilities
political rights and the opportunity to enjoy them on an equal basis
with others, and shall undertake to:
(a) Ensure that persons with disabilities can effectively and
fully participate in political and public life on an equal basis
with others, directly or through freely chosen representatives,
including the right and opportunity for persons with disabilities to
vote and be elected, inter alia, by:
(i) Ensuring that voting procedures, facilities and materials are
appropriate, accessible and easy to understand and use;
(ii) Protecting the right of persons with disabilities to vote by
secret ballot in elections and public referendums without
intimidation, and to stand for elections, to effectively hold office
and perform all public functions at all levels of government,
facilitating the use of assistive and new technologies where
appropriate;
(iii) Guaranteeing the free expression of the will of persons
with disabilities as electors and to this end, where necessary, at
their request, allowing assistance in voting by a person of their
own choice;
(b) Promote actively an environment in which persons with
disabilities can effectively and fully participate in the conduct of
public affairs, without discrimination and on an equal basis with
others, and encourage their participation in public affairs,
including:
(i) Participation in non-governmental organizations and
associations concerned with the public and political life of the
country, and in the activities and administration of political
parties;
(ii) Forming and joining organizations of persons with
disabilities to represent persons with disabilities at
international, national, regional and local levels.
Article 30 Participation in cultural life,
recreation, leisure and sport
1. States Parties recognize the right of persons with
disabilities to take part on an equal basis with others in cultural
life, and shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that persons
with disabilities:
(a) Enjoy access to cultural materials in accessible formats;
(b) Enjoy access to television programmes, films, theatre and
other cultural activities, in accessible formats;
(c) Enjoy access to places for cultural performances or services,
such as theatres, museums, cinemas, libraries and tourism services,
and, as far as possible, enjoy access to monuments and sites of
national cultural importance.
2. States Parties shall take appropriate measures to enable
persons with disabilities to have the opportunity to develop and
utilize their creative, artistic and intellectual potential, not
only for their own benefit, but also for the enrichment of society.
3. States Parties shall take all appropriate steps, in accordance
with international law, 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.
4. Persons with disabilities shall be entitled, on an equal basis
with others, to recognition and support of their specific cultural
and linguistic identity, including sign languages and deaf culture.
5. With a view to enabling persons with disabilities to
participate on an equal basis with others in recreational, leisure
and sporting activities, States Parties shall take appropriate
measures:
(a) To encourage and promote the participation, to the fullest
extent possible, of persons with disabilities in mainstream sporting
activities at all levels;
(b) To ensure that persons with disabilities have an opportunity
to organize, develop and participate in disability-specific sporting
and recreational activities and, to this end, encourage the
provision, on an equal basis with others, of appropriate
instruction, training and resources;
(c) To ensure that persons with disabilities have access to
sporting, recreational and tourism venues;
(d) To ensure that children with disabilities have equal access
with other children to participation in play, recreation and leisure
and sporting activities, including those activities in the school
system;
(e) To ensure that persons with disabilities have access to
services from those involved in the organization of recreational,
tourism, leisure and sporting activities.
Article 31 Statistics and data collection
1. States Parties undertake to collect appropriate information,
including statistical and research data, to enable them to formulate
and implement policies to give effect to the present Convention. The
process of collecting and maintaining this information shall:
(a) Comply with legally established safeguards, including
legislation on data protection, to ensure confidentiality and
respect for the privacy of persons with disabilities;
(b) Comply with internationally accepted norms to protect human
rights and fundamental freedoms and ethical principles in the
collection and use of statistics.
2. The information collected in accordance with this article
shall be disaggregated, as appropriate, and used to help assess the
implementation of States Parties' obligations under the present
Convention and to identify and address the barriers faced by persons
with disabilities in exercising their rights.
3. States Parties shall assume responsibility for the
dissemination of these statistics and ensure their accessibility to
persons with disabilities and others.
Article 32 International cooperation
1. States Parties recognize the importance of international
cooperation and its promotion, in support of national efforts for
the realization of the purpose and objectives of the present
Convention, and will undertake appropriate and effective measures in
this regard, between and among States and, as appropriate, in
partnership with relevant international and regional organizations
and civil society, in particular organizations of persons with
disabilities. Such measures could include, inter alia:
(a) Ensuring that international cooperation, including
international development programmes, is inclusive of and accessible
to persons with disabilities;
(b) Facilitating and supporting capacity-building, including
through the exchange and sharing of information, experiences,
training programmes and best practices;
(c) Facilitating cooperation in research and access to scientific
and technical knowledge;
(d) Providing, as appropriate, technical and economic assistance,
including by facilitating access to and sharing of accessible and
assistive technologies, and through the transfer of technologies.
2. The provisions of this article are without prejudice to the
obligations of each State Party to fulfil its obligations under the
present Convention.
Article 33
National implementation and monitoring
1. States Parties, in accordance with their system of
organization, shall designate one or more focal points within
government for matters relating to the implementation of the present
Convention, and shall give due consideration to the establishment or
designation of a coordination mechanism within government to
facilitate related action in different sectors and at different
levels.
2. States Parties shall, in accordance with their legal and
administrative systems, maintain, strengthen, designate or establish
within the State Party, a framework, including one or more
independent mechanisms, as appropriate, to promote, protect and
monitor implementation of the present Convention. When designating
or establishing such a mechanism, States Parties shall take into
account the principles relating to the status and functioning of
national institutions for protection and promotion of human rights.
3. Civil society, in particular persons with disabilities and
their representative organizations, shall be involved and
participate fully in the monitoring process.
Article 34 Committee on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities
1. There shall be established a Committee on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities (hereafter referred to as “the
Committee”), which shall carry out the functions hereinafter
provided.
2. The Committee shall consist, at the time of entry into force
of the present Convention, of twelve experts. After an additional
sixty ratifications or accessions to the Convention, the membership
of the Committee shall increase by six members, attaining a maximum
number of eighteen members.
3. The members of the Committee shall serve in their personal
capacity and shall be of high moral standing and recognized
competence and experience in the field covered by the present
Convention. When nominating their candidates, States Parties are
invited to give due consideration to the provision set out in
article 4.3 of the present Convention.
4. The members of the Committee shall be elected by States
Parties, consideration being given to equitable geographical
distribution, representation of the different forms of civilization
and of the principal legal systems, balanced gender representation
and participation of experts with disabilities.
5. The members of the Committee shall be elected by secret ballot
from a list of persons nominated by the States Parties from among
their nationals at meetings of the Conference of States Parties. At
those meetings, for which two thirds of States Parties shall
constitute a quorum, the persons elected to the Committee shall be
those who obtain the largest number of votes and an absolute
majority of the votes of the representatives of States Parties
present and voting.
6. The initial election shall be held no later than six months
after the date of entry into force of the present Convention. At
least four months before the date of each election, the
Secretary-General of the United Nations shall address a letter to
the States Parties inviting them to submit the nominations within
two months. The Secretary-General shall subsequently prepare a list
in alphabetical order of all persons thus nominated, indicating the
State Parties which have nominated them, and shall submit it to the
States Parties to the present Convention.
7. The members of the Committee shall be elected for a term of
four years. They shall be eligible for re-election once. However,
the term of six of the members elected at the first election shall
expire at the end of two years; immediately after the first
election, the names of these six members shall be chosen by lot by
the chairperson of the meeting referred to in paragraph 5 of this
article.
8. The election of the six additional members of the Committee
shall be held on the occasion of regular elections, in accordance
with the relevant provisions of this article.
9. If a member of the Committee dies or resigns or declares that
for any other cause she or he can no longer perform her or his
duties, the State Party which nominated the member shall appoint
another expert possessing the qualifications and meeting the
requirements set out in the relevant provisions of this article, to
serve for the remainder of the term.
10. The Committee shall establish its own rules of procedure.
11. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall provide the
necessary staff and facilities for the effective performance of the
functions of the Committee under the present Convention, and shall
convene its initial meeting.
12. With the approval of the General Assembly, the members of the
Committee established under the present Convention shall receive
emoluments from United Nations resources on such terms and
conditions as the Assembly may decide, having regard to the
importance of the Committee's responsibilities.
13. The members of the Committee shall be entitled to the
facilities, privileges and immunities of experts on mission for the
United Nations as laid down in the relevant sections of the
Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.
Article 35 Reports by States Parties
1. Each State Party shall submit to the Committee, through the
Secretary-General of the United Nations, a comprehensive report on
measures taken to give effect to its obligations under the present
Convention and on the progress made in that regard, within two years
after the entry into force of the present Convention for the State
Party concerned.
2. Thereafter, States Parties shall submit subsequent reports at
least every four years and further whenever the Committee so
requests.
3. The Committee shall decide any guidelines applicable to the
content of the reports.
4. A State Party which has submitted a comprehensive initial
report to the Committee need not, in its subsequent reports, repeat
information previously provided. When preparing reports to the
Committee, States Parties are invited to consider doing so in an
open and transparent process and to give due consideration to the
provision set out in article 4.3 of the present Convention.
5. Reports may indicate factors and difficulties affecting the
degree of fulfilment of obligations under the present Convention.
Article 36 Consideration of reports
1. Each report shall be considered by the Committee, which shall
make such suggestions and general recommendations on the report as
it may consider appropriate and shall forward these to the State
Party concerned. The State Party may respond with any information it
chooses to the Committee. The Committee may request further
information from States Parties relevant to the implementation of
the present Convention.
2. If a State Party is significantly overdue in the submission of
a report, the Committee may notify the State Party concerned of the
need to examine the implementation of the present Convention in that
State Party, on the basis of reliable information available to the
Committee, if the relevant report is not submitted within three
months following the notification. The Committee shall invite the
State Party concerned to participate in such examination. Should the
State Party respond by submitting the relevant report, the
provisions of paragraph 1 of this article will apply.
3. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall make
available the reports to all States Parties.
4. States Parties shall make their reports widely available to
the public in their own countries and facilitate access to the
suggestions and general recommendations relating to these reports.
5. The Committee shall transmit, as it may consider appropriate,
to the specialized agencies, funds and programmes of the United
Nations, and other competent bodies, reports from States Parties in
order to address a request or indication of a need for technical
advice or assistance contained therein, along with the Committee's
observations and recommendations, if any, on these requests or
indications.
Article 37 Cooperation between States Parties
and the Committee
1. Each State Party shall cooperate with the Committee and assist
its members in the fulfilment of their mandate.
2. In its relationship with States Parties, the Committee shall
give due consideration to ways and means of enhancing national
capacities for the implementation of the present Convention,
including through international cooperation.
Article 38 Relationship of the Committee with
other bodies
In order to foster the effective implementation of the present
Convention and to encourage international cooperation in the field
covered by the present Convention:
(a) The specialized agencies and other United Nations organs
shall be entitled to be represented at the consideration of the
implementation of such provisions of the present Convention as fall
within the scope of their mandate. The Committee may invite the
specialized agencies and other competent bodies as it may consider
appropriate to provide expert advice on the implementation of the
Convention in areas falling within the scope of their respective
mandates. The Committee may invite specialized agencies and other
United Nations organs to submit reports on the implementation of the
Convention in areas falling within the scope of their activities;
(b) The Committee, as it discharges its mandate, shall consult,
as appropriate, other relevant bodies instituted by international
human rights treaties, with a view to ensuring the consistency of
their respective reporting guidelines, suggestions and general
recommendations, and avoiding duplication and overlap in the
performance of their functions.
Article 39 Report of the Committee
The Committee shall report every two years to the General
Assembly and to the Economic and Social Council on its activities,
and may make suggestions and general recommendations based on the
examination of reports and information received from the States
Parties. Such suggestions and general recommendations shall be
included in the report of the Committee together with comments, if
any, from States Parties.
Article 40 Conference of States Parties
1. The States Parties shall meet regularly in a Conference of
States Parties in order to consider any matter with regard to the
implementation of the present Convention.
2. No later than six months after the entry into force of the
present Convention, the Conference of the States Parties shall be
convened by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The
subsequent meetings shall be convened by the Secretary-General of
the United Nations biennially or upon the decision of the Conference
of States Parties.
Article 41 Depositary
The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall be the
depositary of the present Convention.
Article 42 Signature
The present Convention shall be open for signature by all States
and by regional integration organizations at United Nations
Headquarters in New York as of 30 March 2007.
Article 43 Consent to be bound
The present Convention shall be subject to ratification by
signatory States and to formal confirmation by signatory regional
integration organizations. It shall be open for accession by any
State or regional integration organization which has not signed the
Convention.
Article 44 Regional integration organizations
1. “Regional integration organization” shall mean an organization
constituted by sovereign States of a given region, to which its
member States have transferred competence in respect of matters
governed by this Convention. Such organizations shall declare, in
their instruments of formal confirmation or accession, the extent of
their competence with respect to matters governed by this
Convention. Subsequently, they shall inform the depositary of any
substantial modification in the extent of their competence.
2. References to “States Parties” in the present Convention shall
apply to such organizations within the limits of their competence.
3. For the purposes of article 45, paragraph 1, and article 47,
paragraphs 2 and 3, any instrument deposited by a regional
integration organization shall not be counted.
4. Regional integration organizations, in matters within their
competence, may exercise their right to vote in the Conference of
States Parties, with a number of votes equal to the number of their
member States that are Parties to this Convention. Such an
organization shall not exercise its right to vote if any of its
member States exercises its right, and vice versa.
Article 45 Entry into force
1. The present Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth
day after the deposit of the twentieth instrument of ratification or
accession.
2. For each State or regional integration organization ratifying,
formally confirming or acceding to the Convention after the deposit
of the twentieth such instrument, the Convention shall enter into
force on the thirtieth day after the deposit of its own such
instrument.
Article 46 Reservations
1. Reservations incompatible with the object and purpose of the
present Convention shall not be permitted.
2. Reservations may be withdrawn at any time.
Article 47 Amendments
1. Any State Party may propose an amendment to the present
Convention and submit it to the Secretary-General of the United
Nations. The Secretary-General shall communicate any proposed
amendments to States Parties, with a request to be notified whether
they favour a conference of States Parties for the purpose of
considering and deciding upon the proposals. In the event that,
within four months from the date of such communication, at least one
third of the States Parties favour such a conference, the
Secretary-General shall convene the conference under the auspices of
the United Nations. Any amendment adopted by a majority of two
thirds of the States Parties present and voting shall be submitted
by the Secretary-General to the General Assembly for approval and
thereafter to all States Parties for acceptance.
2. An amendment adopted and approved in accordance with paragraph
1 of this article shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after
the number of instruments of acceptance deposited reaches two thirds
of the number of States Parties at the date of adoption of the
amendment. Thereafter, the amendment shall enter into force for any
State Party on the thirtieth day following the deposit of its own
instrument of acceptance. An amendment shall be binding only on
those States Parties which have accepted it.
3. If so decided by the Conference of States Parties by
consensus, an amendment adopted and approved in accordance with
paragraph 1 of this article which relates exclusively to articles
34, 38, 39 and 40 shall enter into force for all States Parties on
the thirtieth day after the number of instruments of acceptance
deposited reaches two thirds of the number of States Parties at the
date of adoption of the amendment.
Article 48 Denunciation
A State Party may denounce the present Convention by written
notification to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The
denunciation shall become effective one year after the date of
receipt of the notification by the Secretary-General.
Article 49 Accessible format
The text of the present Convention shall be made available in
accessible formats.
Article 50 Authentic texts
The Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts
of the present Convention shall be equally authentic.
In witness thereof the undersigned plenipotentiaries,
being duly authorized thereto by their respective Governments, have
signed the present Convention.
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