United Nations
General Assembly
A/RES/58/246
Distr.: General
11 March 2004
Fifty-eighth session
Agenda item 117 (b)
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 23 December 2003
[on the report of the Third Committee (A/58/508/Add.2)]
58/246. Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral
International Convention on the Protection and
Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons
with Disabilities
The General Assembly,
Recalling its resolution 56/168 of 19 December 2001, by which it decided to
establish an Ad Hoc Committee open to the participation of all Member States and
observers to the United Nations, to consider proposals for a comprehensive and
integral international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of
persons with disabilities, based on a holistic approach in the work done in the fields
of social development, human rights and non-discrimination and taking into account
the recommendations of the Commission on Human Rights and the Commission for
Social Development,
Recalling also its resolution 57/229 of 18 December 2002, as well as relevant
resolutions of the Commission for Social Development and the Commission on
Human Rights,
Reaffirming the universality, indivisibility and interdependence of all human
rights and fundamental freedoms and the need for persons with disabilities to be
guaranteed their full enjoyment without discrimination,
Convinced of the contribution that a convention can make in this regard,
Encouraging Member States and observers to participate actively in the
Ad Hoc Committee in order to present to the General Assembly, as a matter of
priority, a draft text of a convention,
Stressing the importance of the active participation of intergovernmental and
non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions in the work
of the Ad Hoc Committee, and their valuable contribution to the promotion of the
full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by persons with
disabilities,
Recognizing the important contributions made thus far to the Ad Hoc
Committee by all stakeholders,
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