The rights of people with disability

CRPD secures better rights for people with disabilities and is legally binding on the states that accede to it. The first article of the Convention defines who it protects:

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.

History

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) was the start of a comprehensive international human rights system consisting of several conventions. It became clear early on that some groups in society were exposed to discrimination and needed extra protection through their own conventions.

The question of a special convention for the rights of people with disabilities was initially discussed in the international arena in 1987. At that time there was disagreement about the need for such a convention, and instead political recommendations were drawn up (found in The Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (1993)). The recommendations were not binding on states pursuant to international law so they were not as effective as a convention would be.

In 2001 an ad-hoc committee was convened by the UN to assess whether to draw up a convention. The response was positive, and after much work the “Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities" (CRPD) was born in 2006 when it was adopted by the UN General Assembly.

As of 2024, 186 states have ratified the CRPD. This makes it one of the most ratified conventions on human rights in history.

Strong civil society

The convention is the result of a negotiation process in which people with various forms of disability and their organisations were heavily involved. The importance of their participation was highlighted by the slogan "Nothing about us without us!”

The Convention

The CRPD has 50 articles. Article 3 lays down eight general principles the Convention builds on:

1. Inherent dignity and individual autonomy
2. Non-discrimination
3. Participation and inclusion
4. Respect for differences
5. Equal opportunities
6. Accessibility
7. Equality between men and women
8. Respect for children’s evolving capacities and identities

Article 34 of the CRPD established a special committee consisting of up to 18 independent experts. This means that states ratifying the Convention undertake to submit reports to the committee every four years.

Relational understanding of disability

A fundamental feature in the CRPD is the emphasis on social barriers as the principal reason behind discrimination of people with disability. This is called the relational perspective. It sees disability as the result of barriers in the surroundings and the relationship between the individual and society, as opposed to a medical perspective (medical model) where the individual is seen as the “problem”. The medical perspective focuses on the disability as a quality of the person that needs to be corrected.

Sources

• Bufdir (Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs)
• The Norwegian National Human Rights Institution
• Langmyr, M. (2014) “Nothing about us without us”. A case study of influence strategy and the influence of the Norwegian Federation of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (FFO)during the negotiation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. (Master’s degree paper). University of Oslo