A/HRC/RES/16/15
Emphasizing that international cooperation measures that are not inclusive of and
accessible to persons with disabilities may create new barriers to their equal participation in
society,
Emphasizing also the need for States parties to consult closely with and actively
involve persons with disabilities in decision-making processes concerning issues related to
persons with disabilities, including to enable and empower them to participate in
international cooperation,
1.
Welcomes the fact that, to date, one hundred and forty-seven States and one
regional integration organization have signed and ninety-nine States ratified or acceded to
the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and that ninety States have
signed and sixty-one States have ratified or acceded to the Optional Protocol to the
Convention, and calls upon those States and regional integration organizations that have not
yet ratified or acceded to the Convention and the Optional Protocol thereto to consider
doing so as a matter of priority;
2.
Encourages States that have ratified the Convention and have submitted one
or more reservations to it to implement a process to review regularly the effect and
continued relevance of such reservations, and to consider the possibility of withdrawing
them;
3.
Welcomes the outcome document of the High-level Plenary Meeting
contained in General Assembly resolution 65/1 of 22 September 2010, entitled “Keeping
the promise: united to achieve the Millennium Development Goals”, particularly the
recognition that policies and actions must also focus on persons with disabilities in order
that they may benefit from progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals;
4.
Also welcomes the work of the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights on the role of international cooperation in support of
national efforts for the realization of the rights of persons with disabilities, including the
thematic study,1 and calls upon all stakeholders to consider the findings and
recommendations of the study, and invites the High Commissioner to make the study
available to the high-level meeting at the sixty-seventh session of the General Assembly on
strengthening efforts to ensure accessibility for and inclusion of persons with disabilities in
all aspects of development efforts;
5.
Calls upon States parties to the Convention to ensure that all international
cooperation measures in the disability field are consistent with their obligations under the
Convention; such measures could include, in addition to disability-specific initiatives,
ensuring that international cooperation is inclusive of and accessible to persons with
disabilities;
6.
Encourages all actors, when taking appropriate and effective international
cooperation measures in support of national efforts for the realization of the rights of
persons with disabilities, to ensure:
(a)
That appropriate attention be given to all persons with disabilities, including
those with disabilities relating to physical, mental, intellectual and sensory impairments,
and that appropriate attention be given also to gender issues, including the connection
between gender and disability;
(b)
Adequate coordination between and among actors involved in international
cooperation;
1
2
A/HRC/16/38.