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The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 71
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- Fifty years after the separation of international human rights into the two covenants, the United Nations is well situated to retrieve a unified and inclusive understanding of human rights and to affirm that the right to life includes the right to a place to live in dignity and security, free of violence. The Human Rights Committee has the opportunity to affirm this integrated understanding of the right to life in the ongoing preparation of its general comment No. 36. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has the opportunity under its Optional Protocol to highlight the connection between the rights to life and adequate housing in lived experience. Other treaty monitoring bodies have the opportunity to ensure that the understanding of the rights to life and adequate housing is informed by the experiences and unique claims of people with disabilities, women, children, migrants, racial minorities and indigenous peoples, among others.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Challenges faced by groups most at risk when exercising or seeking to exercise the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and/or of association 2014, para. 69
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- In its draft general comment on article 12, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities states that the recognition of equal legal capacity for persons with disabilities is a key principle that is inextricably linked to the enjoyment of other rights, including the freedom of association and the right to participate in political and public life (CRPD/C/11/4, paras. 44-45). Legal capacity is distinguished from mental capacity, with the former referring to the ability to hold rights and duties and the ability to exercise those rights and duties (ibid., para. 12). The paradigm shift in perceptions of the legal capacity and equality before the law for persons with disabilities, brought about by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, has not yet become entrenched in practice. The shift from substitute decision-making to supported decision-making has profound implications on how and with whom persons with disabilities associate.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to rights-based support for persons with disabilities 2017, para. 18
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- Despite the rising demand, the support needs of most persons with disabilities worldwide are not being met. Evidence indicates that in most developed and developing countries, the majority of persons with disabilities have limited access to support services. There is a shortage of community support services for persons with disabilities who require personal assistance. In many countries, only 5-15 per cent of those in need of assistive devices and technologies are able to obtain them. Deaf and deafblind persons frequently face difficulties in accessing trained interpreters, particularly in rural or isolated communities. Persons with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities are overrepresented among the homeless because of the lack of support for living in the community and for decision-making. Furthermore, general public services in such areas as education and employment do not envision support measures to ensure the full participation of persons with disabilities. While all persons with disabilities face challenges in accessing support, those with high support needs are disproportionately affected by the lack of appropriate services.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Disability-inclusive policies 2016, para. 12
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are complementary and mutually reinforcing instruments crucial to guaranteeing the full and effective participation of persons with disabilities in society. Whereas the Convention can offer normative guidance for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals can contribute to the effective realization of the human rights of persons with disabilities. In that regard, the Special Rapporteur welcomes the efforts of the United Nations and its mechanisms, including the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to integrate the 2030 Agenda into its work to promote the rights of persons with disabilities. In particular, the Special Rapporteur commends the initiative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to develop guidance tools for States, national human rights institutions and civil society on how to implement and monitor the Sustainable Development Goals at the national level, in line with the Convention and the development of human rights indicators for the Convention, linked to the Goals, to measure progress in its implementation.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Certain forms of abuses in health-care settings that may cross a threshold of mistreatment that is tantamount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2013, para. 64
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- The mandate continues to receive reports of the systematic use of forced interventions worldwide. Both this mandate and United Nations treaty bodies have established that involuntary treatment and other psychiatric interventions in health-care facilities are forms of torture and ill-treatment. Forced interventions, often wrongfully justified by theories of incapacity and therapeutic necessity inconsistent with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, are legitimized under national laws, and may enjoy wide public support as being in the alleged "best interest" of the person concerned. Nevertheless, to the extent that they inflict severe pain and suffering, they violate the absolute prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment (A/63/175, paras. 38, 40, 41). Concern for the autonomy and dignity of persons with disabilities leads the Special Rapporteur to urge revision of domestic legislation allowing for forced interventions.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right of persons with disabilities to social protection 2015, para. 60
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- Fifth, the eligibility criteria of social protection programmes should not include factors that could directly or indirectly exclude persons with disabilities. For instance, in many countries child nutrition programmes operate only at childcare centres and schools. Since children with disabilities have fewer opportunities to attend school, many of them lack access to nutrition programmes. Older persons with disabilities are also usually excluded from receiving disability benefits owing programmes are targeted towards the poor. Social protection programmes target persons with disabilities either as a separate group through disability-specific programmes; by explicitly incorporating them within the targeting criteria of mainstream programmes; or by including them within groups at risk of poverty. Programmes can also either target all persons with disabilities, only certain age groups, or focus on a particular level or type of impairment. to their age, yet pensions and other available benefits may not fully address disability-related needs. Therefore, States must take into account the situation of persons with disabilities when targeting specific age groups.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 37
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- The Committee's recognition in these cases that deportation into homelessness may constitute cruel and inhuman treatment or punishment, and that victims of homelessness in this context are entitled to a remedy, is significant. It is equally important, however, to ensure access to adjudication and remedy for those who experience the same deprivations of homelessness resulting from inaction or neglect within a State's own borders. In A.H.G and Jasin, the Committee considered the effects of widespread and systemic violations of the right to security and dignity. However, this consideration remained within the negative rights framework of prohibited "treatment" or "punishment". That framework is not conducive to hearing the substantive claim to a life of dignity, security and inclusion advanced by people with disabilities or women escaping violence, who do not see the fulfilment of their human rights merely as freedom from treatment or punishment but more fundamentally as a right to a place to live in dignity and security.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Disability-inclusive policies 2016, para. 53
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- To the maximum extent possible, States should provide support services and assistive devices and technologies under a community-based approach. That means not only providing relevant services in the community where the person lives, but also ensuring the participation of persons with disabilities in decision -making processes and activities related to the design and provision of those services, as well as recognizing and supporting existing social networks and community resources. In that way, community-based services enable the optimal use of local resources, often with more efficient delivery systems than through other measures. When services are not community-based there is either a drive towards segregation, or those needing such services may have difficulty in accessing them. Additionally, when services are designed in a participatory manner and with the communities in mind, their adequacy and adaptability is increased, which results in responses that are sensitive to geographical, social, economic and cultural issues. In the case of indigenous peoples, such community-based services could be used to avoid the risk of assimilation when providing disability-specific services to indigenous persons with disabilities.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 48
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur also emphasizes that reasonable accommodation in housing is often linked to systemic patterns of discrimination and imbalances in power “which result in a society being designed well for some and not for others”. The Supreme Court of Canada warned that reasonable accommodation claims should not be allowed to shield systemic discrimination from scrutiny or leave in place imbalances in power that have led to the neglect of the needs or perspectives of marginalized groups in the design of policies. It is important to ask, in each individual case, not only what is required by the individual person with a disability to ensure equality, but also why the housing system created the need for individual accommodation in the first place. Requests for modifications of buildings or housing policies are usually only made because those requirements were not adequately considered when buildings or policies were designed in the first place. Persons with disabilities must be empowered to challenge housing, planning and zoning, social protection and justice systems that fail to meet their needs and thus deny them access to adequate housing.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 15
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- Institutionalization is a clear example of how violations of the right to housing occur when disability is misconstrued as a medical condition. Removing persons with disabilities from the general population and subjecting them to isolation and extreme social control is rationalized on the basis that they are being provided with “treatment” or “care”. Institutionalization often combines the worst living conditions with severe deprivation of liberty and cruel and inhuman treatment, including physical and sexual abuse. Conditions are invariably overcrowded, with limited or no access to sanitation and hygiene facilities, as has been documented in countries including Guatemala, Indonesia and Mexico. Residents in institutions and institution-like settings are often precluded from having outside social or family relations and deprived of choices about activities, social relationships, sexuality and identity. Persons with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities are at highest risk of being institutionalized forcefully and, outside formal institutions, are often subjected to extreme levels of institution-like control in privately operated rooming houses or “halfway” houses.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 36
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- Girls and young women with disabilities also encounter significant challenges when attempting to access justice, prevention mechanisms and response services for sexual and gender-based violence. Sexual assault is often underreported, and even more so when the individual has a disability. Girls and young women with disabilities face numerous challenges when reporting abuses, such as the risk of being removed from their homes and institutionalized; stigmatization; fears with regard to single parenthood or losing child custody; the absence or inaccessibility of violence prevention programmes and facilities; the fear of the loss of assistive devices and other supports; and the fear of retaliation and further violence by those on whom they are both emotionally and financially dependent (see A/67/227, para. 59). In addition, when, as survivors of sexual violence, they report the abuse or seek assistance or protection from judicial or law enforcement officials, teachers, health professionals, social workers or others, their testimony, especially that of girls and women with intellectual disabilities, is generally not considered credible, and they are therefore disregarded as competent witnesses, resulting in perpetrators avoiding prosecution.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 23
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- Many girls and young women with disabilities do not have access to information and education about sexual and reproductive health and rights and related services. Several studies found that youth with disabilities, especially girls and young women with intellectual disabilities, have low levels of sexuality education and sexual and reproductive health and rights knowledge, including information with regard to the prevention and transmission of HIV. The lack of inclusive education prevents girls and young women with disabilities from accessing comprehensive sexuality education, as those programmes are usually not available in special education settings. In addition, comprehensive sexuality education is not always delivered in accessible formats and alternative languages, and very often it does not address disability-specific needs. Stigma and stereotypes about female sexuality can also lead to the exclusion of girls and young women with disabilities from existing comprehensive sexuality education programmes by their parents, guardians and teachers. There is a general lack of guidance for families and teachers on how to talk about sexuality and equality with girls and young women with disabilities.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women with disabilities 2017, para. 1
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- In its resolution 35/6, the Human Rights Council requested the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on the rights of persons with disabilities to report annually to the General Assembly.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 33
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities emphasizes full respect for legal capacity, the absolute prohibition of involuntary detention based on impairment and the elimination of forced treatment (see A/HRC/34/32, paras. 22-33). That responds to the inadequacy of procedural safeguards alone, requiring sharpened attention to non-coercive alternatives and community inclusion to secure the rights of persons with disabilities. Within that evolving framework, not all human rights mechanisms have embraced the absolute ban on involuntary detention and treatment articulated by the Committee. They include the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (see CAT/OP/27/2), the Committee Against Torture and the Human Rights Committee. However, their interpretation of exceptions used to justify coercion is narrower, signalling ongoing discussions on the matter. Notably, in the United Nations Basic Principles and Guidelines on Remedies and Procedures on the Right of Anyone Deprived of Their Liberty to Bring Proceedings Before a Court, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention supported the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities with regard to safeguards on the prohibition of arbitrary detention (see A/HRC/30/37, paras. 103-107).
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Violence against women with disabilities 2012, para. 86
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- In addition, the Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on the right to education dedicated his 2007 thematic report to the issue of the right of persons with disabilities to inclusive education (A/HRC/4/29, paras. 8 and 76). He found that literacy rates for women and girls with disabilities were significantly lower than for men and boys, and that women and girls were generally subjected to more discrimination. Similarly, in his 2005 thematic report, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, focused on the right to health of persons with mental disabilities (E/CN.4/2005/51, paras. 12 and 49) and found that women with intellectual disabilities were especially vulnerable to forced sterilization and sexual violence. He advocated for measures to protect them from violence and other right to health-related abuses, whether occurring in private health-care or support services. Finally, the Special Rapporteur to monitor the implementation of the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities reports annually to the Commission for Social Development and has mainstreamed the issue of women and disabilities in his reports (see E/CN.5/2011/9).
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence against women 2011, para. 15
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- In 1989, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women explicitly linked gender-based violence and discrimination against women in its general recommendation No. 12 and called on States parties to include in their reports information on violence and on measures introduced to deal with it. Between 1989 and 1992, the Committee issued a series of general recommendations that addressed some rights violations experienced at the intersection of inter- and intra-gender sex discrimination and violence against women. In 1992 it issued general recommendation No. 19 both to define gender-based violence and to make it discrimination on the grounds of sex within the meaning of the Convention. Much of what is set forth in general recommendation No. 19 is reiterated and refined in the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women. CEDAW has also addressed the impact of intersecting forms of discrimination against women and its nexus with gender-based violence. Most recently, in general recommendation No. 27, which deals with the rights of older women, it recognizes that age and sex make older women vulnerable to violence, and that age, sex and disability make older women with disabilities particularly vulnerable.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Comprehensive prevention strategies against sale and sexual exploitation of children 2013, para. 92f
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- [Specific activities to promote child participation in order to prevent sale and exploitation include:] Avenues for participation that are age and gender appropriate and accessible for children with disabilities.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 3
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- For the purposes of this report, unpaid care work includes domestic work (meal preparation, cleaning, washing clothes, water and fuel collection) and direct care of persons (including children, older persons and persons with disabilities, as well as able-bodied adults) carried out in homes and communities.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 32
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- With the assignment of the right to life to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Human Rights Committee was charged with interpreting its universal meaning and clarifying State obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the right to life. Recent human rights treaties include the right to life as it applies to particular groups, specifically children, migrants and persons with disabilities. No doubt the interpretation of these provisions by treaty bodies will advance the understanding of the right to life in a manner that is informed by the lived experience of these different groups. To date, however, only the Human Rights Committee has adopted a general comment on this right, and all of the substantive jurisprudence on the right to life at the international level adjudicating allegations of violations of the right to life has emerged from cases under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In the light of this leading role, the Committee's jurisprudence requires considered attention.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Challenges faced by groups most at risk when exercising or seeking to exercise the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and/or of association 2014, para. 33
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- There may be legitimate and non-criminal reasons for wearing a mask or face covering during a demonstration, including fear of retribution. For example, in Egypt, article 6 of the 2013 law on protests and demonstrations prohibits the wearing of a mask to hide the face during any assembly. That provision contains no exceptions and could be used to discriminate against women who wear the niqab, effectively preventing them from participating in public meetings or protests. Such laws may also be used against individuals with medical disabilities who wear face masks for medical purposes. Certain peaceful protest movements in the Arab world, Western Europe, North America and elsewhere have adopted the use of the Guy Fawkes mask as an emblem. The mask is particularly popular among youth and student protest movements. The donning of this mask can be as much a political statement - a way of identifying with one's fellow demonstrators and a worldwide movement - as it is an attempt to conceal identity.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Ability of associations to access financial resources as a vital part of the right to freedom of association & Ability to hold peaceful assemblies as an integral component of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly 2013, para. 69
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- Possible issues for discussion include an estimate of the number of participants expected; itinerary of the assembly, if it is not static; specific needs of persons with disabilities and groups at risk, such as women, indigenous peoples and groups who, due to their sexual orientation and/or gender identity may be in need of greater protection by the authorities; need to deploy properly trained and clearly identified stewards whose role is to provide assistance to organizers by, inter alia, informing and orienting the public during the event, but who should not be used to palliate deficiencies in the security apparatus. Importantly, when organizers cannot be identified due to the nature of certain assemblies (such as those convened through the Internet), the authorities must undertake such planning and be prepared to the same extent.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Key trends and challenges to the right of all individuals to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds through the Internet 2011, para. 50
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities outlines general principles to which States that have ratified the Convention should adhere, including full and effective participation and inclusion in society and accessibility (article 3, paras. (c) and (f)). The Convention further stipulates that States should "promote the availability and use of new technologies, including information and communications technologies, mobility aids, devices and assistive technologies, suitable for persons with disabilities, giving priority to technologies at an affordable cost" (article 4, para. 1 (g)), and "promote access for persons with disabilities to new information and communications technologies and systems, including the Internet" (article 9, para. 2 (g)). To ensure fulfilment of these obligations, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has recommended the following principles for ICT accessibility: equal access, functional equivalency, accessibility, affordability and design for all.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Taxation and human rightss 2014, para. 44
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- Low levels of revenue collection have a disproportionate impact on the poorest segments of the population and constitute a major obstacle to the capacity of the State to finance public services and social programmes. A lack of access to quality services is a constituent element of poverty, and people living in poverty are particularly dependent on public services, being unable to pay for private alternatives. In addition, their specific needs and characteristics make it more likely they will have to interact with State-funded institutions and services on a regular basis. This is particularly the case for people who experience multiple forms of discrimination and disadvantage; for example, persons with disabilities are more likely to come into regular contact with health and social services, while women are more likely to be directly dependent on social protection and health systems for at least some period of their lives because of their sexual and reproductive health and maternity-related needs. Women also serve as unpaid alternative care providers when public services are not adequately funded, increasing their time burden and limiting their opportunities to engage in paid work, education, training or leisure, while also negatively affecting their enjoyment of rights such as health, education, participation and social security.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) 2012, para. 32
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- The need to ensure equality of opportunity and to pay particular attention to marginalized groups is emphasized by article 2 of the UNESCO Convention on Technical and Vocational Education. Article 2, paragraphs (3) and (4), establishes that "States shall work towards the right to equal access to technical and vocational education and towards equality of opportunity to study throughout the educational process"; and that "States shall pay attention to the special needs of the handicapped and other disadvantaged groups and take appropriate measures to enable these groups to benefit from technical and vocational education". Similarly, article 5 (h) of ILO Recommendation No. 195 concerning Human Resources Development: Education, Training and Lifelong Learning (2004) establishes the responsibility of States to "promote access to education, training and lifelong learning for people with nationally identified special needs, such as youth, low-skilled people, people with disabilities, migrants, older workers, indigenous people, ethnic minority groups and the socially excluded; and for workers in small and medium-sized enterprises, in the informal economy, in the rural sector and in self-employment".
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to rights-based support for persons with disabilities 2017, para. 78
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- Some persons with disabilities may need support to overcome barriers that limit their ability to communicate and be understood. While the provision of accessible information and communication can reduce the need for support of persons with disabilities, many of them may still require support with communication. The situation of children with disabilities with limited or no speech capacity is particularly alarming, since their communication needs are usually neglected within the education system and in their communities, despite the existence of low-cost resources and materials. In this regard, States must take all appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities, whatever their communication skills or type of impairment, can access the communication support they need through different forms of communication, as defined in article 2 of the Convention. This includes professional sign language interpretation, display of text, Braille, tactile communication, large print and accessible multimedia, as well as written, audio, plain-language, human-reader and augmentative and alternative modes, means and formats of communication, including accessible information and communications technology.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to rights-based support for persons with disabilities 2017, para. 61
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- In the light of article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, States must adopt a community-based approach to the provision of support, either directly or through intermediaries. Such an approach enables stakeholders - family, friends, neighbours, peers and others - to play a significant role in supporting persons with disabilities in daily life activities and participating in the community. This allows the provision of culturally sensitive services in the communities where persons with disabilities live, building on existing social networks and community resources. In the case of indigenous peoples, for example, community-based approaches could reduce the risk of assimilation. When services are not made available within the community, there is limited participation by persons with disabilities in their design and provision, and there is an increased risk of segregation and institutionalization. Importantly, by benefiting from local skills and resources, community participation in the provision of support facilitates the optimal and efficient delivery of services, enabling a cost-effective policy response in countries with limited resources.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to rights-based support for persons with disabilities 2017, para. 58
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- States should also consider establishing a comprehensive system to coordinate the effective access to support of persons with disabilities. The system should be anchored in the human rights-based approach to disability; take into account equality between men and women and the rights of the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups; and cover all support needs across all sectors of society throughout one or more schemes, formal and informal. Such a system could bring coherence and coordination across programmes, actors and levels of government responsible for the provision of support. Within this system, States should take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social, educational and other measures to protect persons with disabilities from all forms of exploitation, violence and abuse, including their gender-based aspects. States should also consider integrating as many assistance and support services as possible into their existing mainstream policies and programmes. Persons with disabilities and their representative organizations should participate in all decision-making processes concerning this system, including design, implementation and monitoring.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right of persons with disabilities to participate in decision-making 2016, para. 94
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- The requirement to involve persons with disabilities and their representative organizations extends to international decision-making processes. Such participation can ensure that the need and demands of persons with disabilities are adequately mainstreamed and integrated into the work of the United Nations system, including all its programmes, funds, specialized agencies and other bodies. The United Nations system should guarantee the participation of persons with disabilities through their representative organizations by proactively seeking their inputs in all international decision-making processes, including processes within the United Nations itself, such as the development and monitoring of system-wide action plans, strategic planning and management. For that purpose, the United Nations system should ensure the direct participation of persons with disabilities in international summits, high-level meetings, permanent forums and conferences of persons with disabilities. The participation of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in all aspects of the implementation and monitoring process of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is imperative.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Disability-inclusive policies 2016, para. 48
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- Different forms of assistance and support services are required by some persons with disabilities to live and fully participate in the community, with choices equal to others. Article 19 (b) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires States to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to a range of in-home, residential and other community support services necessary to support living and inclusion in the community and to prevent isolation or segregation from the community. Those support services include personal assistance, support in decision-making, communications support (readers, sign language interpreters), mobility support (guides, service animals), living arrangement services (housing, household care) and community services. They can be both substitutes for and complements to assistive devices. Very often those services are not covered by health insurance or social protection schemes, even though they can take up a significant proportion of the average person's budget, if they can afford it at all. States should take measures to ensure affordability and guarantee access to those services to the maximum extent of their available resources, to comply with articles 4 and 28 (2) (a), (b) and (c) of the Convention.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Disability-inclusive policies 2016, para. 22
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- States have an obligation under international human rights law to ensure that their legal and policy frameworks do not discriminate on the basis of disability and therefore must guarantee that all persons with disabilities can access and benefit from them on an equal basis with others. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities addresses non-discrimination as a cross-cutting issue. Article 2 of the Convention defines discrimination on the basis of disability very broadly to cover all forms of disability-based discrimination, including direct and indirect discrimination, discrimination by association and the denial of reasonable accommodation. Article 3 includes non-discrimination and equality of opportunity as general principles of the Convention. Article 4 (1) (b) and (c) requires States to repeal any legislation, regulations, customs and practices that constitute discrimination against persons with disabilities, including discrimination by private actors. Article 5 calls on States to adopt robust anti-discrimination legal frameworks prohibiting all forms of discrimination on the basis of disability and guaranteeing to all persons with disabilities equal and effective legal protection against discrimination on all grounds.
- Body
- Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph