A/72/128 conflict has contributed to high numbers of persons with disabilities. 28 At the same time, in each of those places, adequate, accessible housing is extremely scarce, with housing stock having been destroyed and a lack of access or specific policies blocking access to the materials and resources necessary to rebuild homes. In refugee camps, poorly lit and remotely located latrines can lead to difficult access and experiences of sexual violence for women with disabilities, while crowded, narrow walkways can result in persons with visual impairments falling into open sewers. 29 32. The right to housing is a central part of humanitarian action, from emergency shelter to longer-term accommodation and settlement. Until recently, however, shelter has been provided without consideration of the potential barriers for persons with disabilities. III. Central principles of the human rights-based approach to disability 33. The unique fusion of civil, political and economic and social and cultural rights in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has immense potential to breathe new life into the right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities. Five central tenets of the disability human rights paradigm are particularly important in understanding the right to adequate housing in that context. 30 1. Dignity, autonomy and freedom to choose 34. “Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy including the freedom to make one’s own choices, and independence of persons” is a guiding principle se t 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. 35. 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 adeq uate, accessible housing in which to live. 2. Substantive equality and non-discrimination 36. In the Convention, a broad and substantive concept of the right to equality and non-discrimination is affirmed. Prohibited discrimination includes any distinc tion, __________________ 28 29 30 17-11724 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, “On the eve of the International Population Day”, 11 July 2013. Available from www.pcbs.gov.ps/site/512/default.aspx?tabID=512&lang=en&ItemID= 844&mid=3171&wversion=Staging; Jad Chaaban and others, “Survey on the socioeconomic status of Palestine refugees in Lebanon” (American University of Beirut and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, 2016), p. 10; HelpAge International and Handicap International, Hidden Victims of the Syrian Crisis: Disabled, Injured and Older Refugees (London and Lyon, Park Lane Press, 2014), p. 6. Michael Ashley Stein and Janet E. Lord, “Enabling refugee and IDP law and policy: implications of the U.N. Disability Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”, Faculty Publications (2011), pp. 408 and 431. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, arts. 3, 9 , 19 and 28. 11/23