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Access to rights-based support for persons with disabilities 2017, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- Persons with disabilities should have access to effective judicial or other appropriate remedies when States fail to meet their obligation to ensure access. Similarly, States must guarantee that all persons with disabilities who have experienced any form of exploitation, violence or abuse in the context of support received have access to justice and effective remedies. These remedies should include adequate reparations, including restitution, compensation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition, as appropriate. National human rights institutions and independent mechanisms to promote, protect and monitor the implementation of the Convention should be mandated to carry out inquiries and investigations (art. 33 (2)) as well as provide assistance to persons with disabilities in accessing legal remedies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- One decade later, progress is slow. Effective, acceptable and scalable treatment alternatives remain on the periphery of health-care systems, deinstitutionalization has stalled, mental health investment continues to be predominantly focused on a biomedical model and mental health legislative reform has proliferated, undermining legal capacity and equal protection under the law for people with cognitive, intellectual and psychosocial disabilities. In some countries, the abandonment of asylums has created an insidious pipeline to homelessness, hospital and prison. When international assistance is available, it often supports the renovation of large residential institutions and psychiatric hospitals, undermining progress.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- The professional group in psychiatry is a powerful actor in mental health governance and advocacy. National mental health strategies tend to reflect biomedical agendas and obscure the views and meaningful participation of civil society, users and former users of mental health services and experts from various non-medical disciplines. In that context, the 2005 WHO Resource Book on Mental Health, Human Rights and Legislation, developed using human rights guidelines at the time, was highly influential in the development of mental health laws that allowed “exceptions”. Those legal “exceptions” normalized coercion in everyday practice, widening the space for human rights violations to occur and it is therefore a welcome development to see the laws being revisited and the Resource Book formally withdrawn, as a result of the framework brought about by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Coercion in psychiatry perpetuates power imbalances in care relationships, causes mistrust, exacerbates stigma and discrimination and has made many turn away, fearful of seeking help within mainstream mental health services. Considering that the right to health is now understood within the framework of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, immediate action is required to radically reduce medical coercion and facilitate the move towards an end to all forced psychiatric treatment and confinement. In that connection, States must not permit substitute decision-makers to provide consent on behalf of persons with disabilities on decisions that concern their physical or mental integrity; instead, support should be provided at all times for them to make decisions, including in emergency and crisis situations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- In preparing her report, the Special Rapporteur analysed 47 responses to a questionnaire sent to Member States, national human rights institutions and civil society organizations, including representative organizations of persons with disabilities, as well as the outcome of consultations conducted with girls and young women with disabilities in three countries, whose main trends are reflected in the text. She also organized an expert consultation in New York in June 2017 with representatives of United Nations agencies, women’s organizations and organizations of persons with disabilities. The Special Rapporteur would like to thank Plan International, who supported the research efforts for the study, which was undertaken under the coordination of her office.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- States have an obligation to prevent, investigate, prosecute and try all acts of violence, including sexual violence, and to protect the rights and interests of the victims. National human rights institutions and civil society organizations can play a key role in carrying out inquiries and investigations on exploitation, violence or abuse against girls and young women with disabilities, and in assisting all women with disabilities in accessing legal remedies. For instance, the National Union of Women with Disabilities of Uganda trained 32 women with disabilities as paralegals with knowledge about the rights of women and girls with disabilities related to sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender-based violence. The paralegals offer peer-to-peer support with regard to reporting violations and conducting the necessary follow-up to ensure justice is achieved. States should consider reparations and redress mechanisms for girls and young women with disabilities who have been subjected to harmful practices, such as forced sterilization and forced abortion, particularly within institutions (see CEDAW/C/JPN/CO/7-8, paras. 24-25).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 75
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- In its recent white paper on the rights of persons with disabilities, the Department of Social Services of South Africa called for a comprehensive strategy to realize the right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities consistent with the transformative nature of the constitutional right to housing, including supported community living plans, subsidized housing support, universal design as a requirement in infrastructure grants and a sustainable community-based system for support for independent living. In the white paper, emphasis was laid on the critical importance of strengthening the enforcement of existing legislation, improving access to courts, complaints mechanisms and institutions and strengthening the capacity of institutions such as the South African Human Rights Commission and of organizations for persons with disabilities to support persons with disabilities in gaining access to justice.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 37
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- The right to non-discrimination also requires Governments and private actors to take positive measures to reasonably accommodate the needs of persons with disabilities insofar as such accommodation is “necessary and appropriate” and does not impose a “disproportionate or undue burden”. Reasonable accommodation is not restricted to physical modifications to existing housing. It also includes an obligation to adapt the application of laws and policies. As a component of the right to non-discrimination, reasonable accommodation is considered an immediate obligation of States.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 38
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Equality and non-discrimination are crucial for the realization of the right to housing of persons with disabilities under article 28. States must take positive measures to the maximum of available resources to address systemic homelessness and deprivation of housing, which disproportionately affects persons with disabilities, and to strive towards the full realization of the right to adequate housing for all persons with disabilities. In the Convention, it is made abundantly clear that the right to non-discrimination of persons with disabilities is not simply a negative right, requiring Governments and private actors to refrain from actions that exclude persons with disabilities, but also a positive right, requiring them to take measures to ensure the enjoyment of the right to housing. As Andrea Broderick notes, “the intersection of equality and socioeconomic rights in the [Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities] may provide a key to unlocking the structural inequalities which disabled people, and by extension other marginalised groups, have encountered for too long now”.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 66
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- In a decision adopted in 2008, the Supreme Court of Nepal ordered the release of all persons who were imprisoned because of psychosocial disabilities, in keeping with the right to equality, health and a dignified life. The Court directed the Government to enact a law to protect the rights of persons with psychosocial disabilities and to arrange health services and other necessary measures. Local and international organizations have continued to exert pressure on the Government to implement the Court’s order in line with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In a decision adopted in 2012, the Court ordered the Government to provide a monthly stipend, build shelters and appoint a social welfare worker in each district.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 34
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- “Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy including the freedom to make one’s own choices, and independence of persons” is a guiding principle set forth in article 3 (a) of the Convention that is particularly critical in the interpretation of the right to adequate housing. The deprivation of choice of where and with whom to live is often the most critical assault on dignity and autonomy for persons with disabilities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Discrimination is compounded by other grounds, notably sex, gender, socioeconomic status, race and belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic minority groups. Indigenous peoples in Canada experience twice the rate of disability as the non-indigenous population and are subjected to intersecting discrimination on the basis of indigeneity, poverty and disability. Criminalization of persons with disabilities, in particular those living in homelessness and those with psychosocial disabilities, is common. A typical pattern for persons with psychosocial disabilities is first to lose their housing, when their needs are not accommodated or when they do not receive adequate financial assistance, then to be criminalized in the context of homelessness and then to be incarcerated. In prison, punitive responses for persons with psychosocial disabilities result in extended isolation, segregation, further deterioration of mental health and an ongoing cycle of homelessness and incarceration.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 67
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Effective remedies for violations of the right to adequate housing must be provided wherever possible by interpreting and applying domestic law consistently with the right to housing of persons with disabilities under international human rights law. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights emphasized that “guarantees of equality and non-discrimination should be interpreted, to the greatest extent possible, in ways which facilitate the full protection of economic, social and cultural rights”. Unfortunately, even in the wealthiest countries, where there are sufficient resources to ensure the right to housing of persons with disabilities, courts have failed to interpret domestic human rights guarantees of equality consistently with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and refused to apply such guarantees so as to hold Governments accountable for failures to address widespread homelessness and inadequate housing among persons with disabilities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 35
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Freedom of choice for persons with disabilities is not just a civil and political right to freedom from forced institutionalization. In article 19 of the Convention, the right to be free to choose where and with whom one lives is set out as a positive right to be included in the community, with access to a range of residential and other support services. In addition, article 19 must be read in conjunction with and is reinforced by article 28 to require not only services but also adequate, accessible housing in which to live.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 42
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Participation is integral to the implementation of the right to housing of persons with disabilities. In article 4 (3) of the Convention, it is stated that, in the implementation of legislation, policy or other decisions, States must closely consult with and actively involve persons with disabilities through their representative organizations. As stated by the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, participation leads to the promotion of agency and empowerment, ownership, pride and better decisions, since persons with disabilities are best placed to identify their diverse needs. Effective participation, however, must be grounded in human rights and meaningful accountability. Under article 33 of the Convention, all States are required to develop independent institutions to monitor its implementation, including the right to housing, ensuring that persons with disabilities and their representative organizations are involved and participate fully in the monitoring process.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Development cooperation and the human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- One example of relevance to the present report is the European Union, which has human rights obligations as a part of treaty obligations. Article 21 (2) of the Treaty on the European Union establishes a mandate for the organization to support human rights in all fields of international relations. The European Union is also directly bound by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which it ratified in 2010, particularly article 28, relating to the human right to water, and article 32, relating to international development. Therefore, the obligation to implement human rights in the European Union’s development cooperation applies to European Union institutions responsible for formulating development policies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2017, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- The World Humanitarian Summit, held in May 2016, also focused on increasing adherence to international law by parties to conflict. At the summit, the Special Representative took part in the high-level leaders' round table on upholding the norms that safeguard humanity, where she represented the United Nations and made commitments on behalf of the Organization to intensify the monitoring, investigation and reporting of violations and to engage in increased advocacy with parties to conflict when violations occur. At the same event, the Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action was launched. This initiative will help to ensure that the many children who are permanently disabled during conflict, sometimes purely as the result of a lack of basic medical services to treat minor conditions, are not forgotten.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- The negotiation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, however, brought about a transformative approach to disability, placing the economic, social and cultural rights and the civil and political rights of persons with disabilities within a unified framework. In the Convention, the right to adequate housing is recognized on an equal basis without discrimination, including through the provision of reasonable accommodation. Furthermore, a substantive right to adequate housing for persons with disabilities is affirmed outside an “equal enjoyment” framework and without comparison to the mainstream population. It is thus recognized in the Convention that the right to adequate housing has a particular meaning for persons with disabilities and imposes distinct obligations upon States.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 43
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Under article 13 of the Convention, it is required that persons with disabilities have effective access to justice in all stages of legal proceedings, on an equal basis with others. States should ensure access to justice for claims relating to the right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities, establish complaints and accountability mechanisms and ensure that courts are authorized and adequately resourced to hear and adjudicate claims relating to the right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities. National human rights institutions also have an important role to play in facilitating participation and effective monitoring by providing independent accountability mechanisms and in facilitating access to justice through complaints procedures or by supporting or initiating systemic claims before courts or tribunals.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 74
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Finland reported that its framework for advancing the right to housing for persons with disabilities included: the constitutional protection of the right to housing; the provision of supportive housing and community-based support with a commitment to self-determination in the use of forms of support and services; funding for building and renovating housing to make it accessible and suitable; national action plans on homelessness; and a range of supervisory mechanisms, including an advisory board for the rights of persons with disabilities to oversee coordinated efforts. Finland stated that it considered those currently living in institutions to be homeless and had set a deadline of 2020 to close all institutions, emphasizing the right to live in the community with access to the necessary services and forms of support.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Development cooperation and the human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur observed that the human rights framework might be incorporated in overarching policies that broadly encompass all development cooperation operations or in policies or strategies specifically designed for the water and sanitation sector. Furthermore, policies and strategies were also identified that focused on specific groups, such as women, indigenous populations and persons with disabilities, which occasionally included particular considerations for those people’s needs related to water and sanitation. However, in order to balance the multiple topics of relevance to the present report, funders’ general development cooperation policies and specific policies on water and sanitation are addressed herein.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Orphanages housing abandoned children similarly institutionalize and isolate children with disabilities. One study found that 45 per cent of children living in Russian State institutions had impairments.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 82a (xv)
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- [In that regard, the Special Rapporteur offers the following recommendations:] [In consultation with persons with disabilities and their organizations, States should:] Ensure that refugees, internally displaced persons and migrants with disabilities enjoy their right to adequate housing, notably by including the relevant international human rights provisions in the forthcoming global compact on refugees and the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to rights-based support for persons with disabilities 2017, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- States should promote collaboration and partnerships between public authorities and civil society organizations, including representative organizations of persons with disabilities, in the area of provision of support, particularly at the subnational and operational levels. In this way, support systems can benefit from the outreach capacity of organizations of persons with disabilities, their knowledge of local contexts and their mobilization and advocacy capacity. For instance, in Kenya the Government funds organizations of persons with psychosocial disabilities to run peer support groups in seven counties that facilitate support for decision-making and community living.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to rights-based support for persons with disabilities 2017, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- Some persons with disabilities may want support to make decisions, hence to exercise their legal capacity. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities explicitly recognizes that States have an obligation to provide persons with disabilities with access to support in the exercise of their legal capacity (art. 12 (3)). States must replace regimes of substitute decision-making with regimes of supported decision-making that respect the rights, will and preferences of persons with disabilities, such as support agreements, peer support groups, self-advocacy support and advance directives, among others. In its general comment No. 1 (2014) on equal recognition before the law, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provides guidance on how to ensure access to support in decision-making.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- In addition to the more obvious requirements, within the framework of human rights, to ensure that housing developers exercise due diligence, comply with safety standards and adopt policies of non-discrimination, for example, States may also be required to ensure that investment in housing complies with a rights-based housing strategy and with the target of ensuring adequate housing for all by 2030. Private actors may be required to take particular steps to ensure access to credit for disadvantaged households and to address the needs of residents of informal settlements, women, migrants and people with disabilities. The obligation of States to facilitate the realization of the right to housing by establishing a coherent strategy at both the national and international levels with clearly allocated roles and responsibilities is central to the commitments made by States in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the New Urban Agenda.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- The Convention establishes that all mental health services designed for persons with disabilities are to be effectively monitored by independent authorities (art. 16.3). Human rights must be incorporated into the framework of reference for all monitoring and review procedures in the field of mental health. The Special Rapporteur encourages national human rights institutions to pay attention to the right to mental health in their monitoring and promotion activities. Persons with lived experience, their families and civil society should be engaged in the development and implementation of monitoring and accountability arrangements.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- International assistance and cooperation also includes technical support for rights-based mental health policies and practices. The WHO QualityRights initiative is a commendable example of such technical assistance. The Special Rapporteur also welcomes recent support by the World Bank and WHO for moving mental health to the centre of the global development agenda. However, he cautions that such global initiatives must incorporate the full range of human rights. In particular, multilateral agencies should give priority to ensuring the attainment of the right to health of those in the most vulnerable situations, such as persons with disabilities. A global agenda that focuses on anxiety and depression (common mental health conditions) may reflect a failure to include the persons most in need of rights-based changes in mental health services. Such selective agendas can reinforce practices based on the medicalization of human responses and inadequately address structural issues, such as poverty, inequality, gender stereotypes and violence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 91
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur calls for leadership to confront the global burden of obstacles and embed rights-based mental health innovation in public policy. That includes State champions in international policy efforts, the leadership of professional psychiatry in assessing constructively its approach to the necessity for change, managers of mental health services leading change by example and municipal officials championing grassroots innovation. These champions must work in partnership with their constituents, including persons with intellectual, cognitive and psychosocial disabilities and with autism.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- States must immediately repeal all legislation and regulatory provisions that allow the administration of contraceptives to and the performance of abortion, sterilization or other surgical procedures on girls and young women with disabilities without their free and informed consent, and/or when decided by a third party. Furthermore, States should consider adopting protocols to regulate and request the free and informed consent of girls and young women with disabilities with regard to all medical procedures. Colombia, for example, recently adopted regulations for the delivery of sexual and reproductive health services to persons with disabilities, which include references to the provision of reasonable accommodation and support in decision-making. Laws permitting substituted decision-making and involuntary treatment of persons with disabilities must also be revoked.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph