News

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted in 2006, opened for signing in 2007 and became legally binding in May 2008.

To date 142 countries have signed* the Convention (also known as a treaty) and 66 have ratified** it.  In the countries where ADD International works all of them have signed the Convention and six have ratified - Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, India, Mali, Sudan and Uganda. 

In September ADD International's CEO Jill Flynn and Jabulani Ncube, former Director of International Programmes, attended the second session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in New York (September 2nd - 4th) in order to set out an action plan to ensure its implementation.

The Office of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights have been developing tools to assist Governments to meet their legal obligations and how to integrate the work of the Convention into other Committees and treaty bodies. 

In collaboration with the International Disability and Development Consortium the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is overseeing the production of guidelines for including disabled people with disabilities in UNDP programmes. 

In closing remarks, Mohammed Al-Tarawneh, Committee Chairperson, said that much work lay ahead to implement the Convention and integrate its goals into the larger international human rights framework.  The United Nations system must work together to remove barriers in order to empower and enable the 650 million people with disabilities worldwide.  He urged all States to ratify the Convention and its Optional Protocol, and to strengthen the links between global and regional frameworks.

For more information about the Convention please go to the UN website or click here for the official news release about the conference. 

* To sign the Convention signals an intention to ratify.
** To ratify the Convention means it becomes law.