RES/16/15 Role of international cooperation in support of national efforts for the realization of the rights of persons with disabilities

GE.A/HRC/16/38. 1-12713

Human Rights Council Sixteenth session Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council*

16/15 Role of international cooperation in support of national efforts for the realization of the rights of persons with disabilities

The Human Rights Council,

Reaffirming the universality, indivisibility, interdependence and interrelatedness of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and the need for persons with disabilities to be guaranteed the full enjoyment of their rights and freedoms without discrimination,

Reaffirming also Human Rights Council resolutions 7/9 of 27 March 2008, 10/7 of 26 March 2009 and 13/11 of 25 March 2010, and welcoming the efforts of all stakeholders to implement those resolutions,

Recalling the recognition by States parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of the importance of international cooperation and its promotion, in support of national efforts for the realization of the purpose and objectives of the Convention, and that such measures are without prejudice to the obligation of each State party to fulfil their obligations under the Convention,

Recalling also the recognition of the importance of international cooperation for improving the living conditions of persons with disabilities in every country, particularly in developing countries, and highlighting the fact that the majority of persons with disabilities live in conditions of poverty and, in this regard, recognizing the critical need to address the negative impact of poverty on persons with disabilities,

* The resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council will be contained in the report of

the Council on its sixteenth session (A/HRC/16/2), chap. I.

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;

7. Encourages States to reinforce international cooperation in support of national efforts for the realization of the rights of persons with disabilities;

8. Welcomes the initiative by the United Nations Development Programme, the Office of the High Commissioner, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat and the United Nations Children’s Fund to promote a new multi- donor trust fund through the establishment of the United Nations partnership for the rights of persons with disabilities to support the inclusion of the rights of persons with disabilities within the development cooperation programmes of the United Nations system, and encourages States, bilateral and multilateral donors and private donors to give favourable consideration to contributing to it once it has been established;

9. Invites the Office of the High Commissioner, within two years of the establishment of the United Nations partnership for the rights of persons with disabilities, to provide information to the Human Rights Council on the status and operation of the partnership;

10. Encourages States to reinforce international cooperation measures in fields of research or on transfer of technology, such as assistive technologies;

11. Encourages all actors to give appropriate consideration to the rights of persons with disabilities in all phases of humanitarian operations, from preparedness to assistance, transition and handover of relief operations;

12. Acknowledges the importance of international cooperation at all levels, including South-South and triangular cooperation, which complement North-South cooperation, as well as regional cooperation and cooperation involving and within civil society, including national human rights institutions and persons with disabilities and their representative organizations;

13. Recalls that international cooperation is without prejudice to the obligation of each State party to the Convention to fulfil its obligations under the Convention;

14. Takes note with interest of the ongoing discussions at the World Intellectual Property Organization on exceptions and limitations to copyright to enhance access to copyrighted works for persons with disabilities;

15. Decides to continue to integrate the rights of persons with disabilities into its work, in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 7/9;

16. Also decides that its next annual interactive debate on the rights of persons with disabilities will be held at its nineteenth session, and that it will focus on participation in political and public life;

17. Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to prepare a study on the participation of persons with disabilities in political and public life, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, including States, regional organizations, including regional integration organizations, United Nations agencies, the Special Rapporteur on disability of the Commission for Social Development of the Economic and Social Council, civil society organizations, including organizations of persons with disabilities, and national human rights institutions, and requests that the study be made available on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner, in an accessible format, prior to the nineteenth session of the Human Rights Council;

18. Encourages organizations of persons with disabilities, national monitoring bodies and human rights institutions to participate actively in the debate referred to in paragraph 16 above, as well as in regular and special sessions of the Human Rights Council and its working groups;

19. Encourages the special procedures mandate holders of the Human Rights Council to cooperate, as appropriate and in accordance with their respective mandates, with the Special Rapporteur on disability of the Commission for Social Development;

20. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to ensure that the Office of the High Commissioner, in its mandates on the rights of persons with disabilities, and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities are given adequate resources for the fulfilment of their tasks;

21. Requests the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner to continue the progressive implementation of standards and guidelines for the accessibility of facilities and services of the United Nations system, also taking into account relevant provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and underlines that the Human Rights Council, including its Internet resources, should be fully accessible to persons with disabilities.

46th meeting 24 March 2011

[Adopted without a vote.]