Source: United Nations – Geneva

Six New Committee Members Make Solemn Declaration

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities today opened its thirty-second session, during which it will review the reports of Canada, Dominican Republic, European Union, Palau, Tuvalu and Viet Nam. 

Andrea Ori, Chief of the Groups in Focus Section, Human Rights Treaties Branch, Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Representative of the Secretary-General, extended a warm welcome to six new members of the Committee, namely: Magino Corporán Lorenzo (Dominican Republic); Mara Cristina Gabrilli (Brazil); Natalia Guala Beathyate (Uruguay); Christopher Nwanoro (Nigeria); Inmaculada Placencia Porrero (European Union); and Hiroshi Tamon (Japan). 

He also congratulated the re-elected members of the Committee, namely: Gerel Dondovdorj (Mongolia); Abdelmajid Makni (Morocco); and Floyd Morris (Jamaica).

Mr. Ori said that as a result of the election, the composition of the Committee had changed this year to 10 women and eight men.  It was one of the largest female representations in a treaty body.  The 192 ratifications to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities showed the commitment of the international community to an inclusive and accessible world.  Since the last session, Eritrea had ratified the Convention. In addition, Ireland had ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention, bringing the States parties to that instrument to 107. 

The six new members made their solemn declaration to the Committee.

The Committee then adopted the programme of work for the session.

Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame, outgoing Committee Chairperson, said this morning, the Committee would elect a Chair, three Vice-Chairs and a Rapporteur in a private meeting.  Ms. Fefoame then provided an overview of her activities undertaken since the last session.  She was filled with profound gratitude to have chaired the Committee for the past two years.  In times of crisis, persons with disabilities were too often left behind and this was not acceptable.  Ms. Fefoame thanked everyone who had supported her during her time as Chairperson. 

Floyd Morris, Committee Expert, expressed profound appreciation on behalf of the Committee to Ms. Fefoame for her leadership. 

Speaking at the opening of the session were representatives from the Committee on Victim Assistance; United Nations Women; World Intellectual Property Organization; Implementation Support Unit of the Convention on Cluster Munitions; International Disability Alliance; World Federation of the Deaf; Peace Inclusion Peace; Universal Rights Group; and United for Global Mental Health

Summaries of the public meetings of the Committee can be found here, while webcasts of the public meetings can be found here.  The programme of work of the Committee’s thirty-second session and other documents related to the session can be found here.

The Committee will next meet in public at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 4 March to consider the initial report of Tuvalu (CRPD/C/TUV/1).

Opening Statement

ANDREA ORI, Chief of the Groups in Focus Section, Human Rights Treaties Branch, Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Representative of the Secretary-General, extended a warm welcome to the six new members of the Committee: Magino Corporán Lorenzo (Dominican Republic); Mara Cristina Gabrilli (Brazil); Natalia Guala Beathyate (Uruguay); Christopher Nwanoro (Nigeria); Inmaculada Placencia Porrero (European Union); and Hiroshi Tamon (Japan).

He also congratulated the re-elected members of the Committee: Gerel Dondovdorj (Mongolia); Abdelmajid Makni (Morocco); and Floyd Morris (Jamaica). 

As a result of the election, the composition of the Committee had changed this year to 10 women and eight men among their members.  It was one of the largest female representations in a treaty body.  The 192 ratifications to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities showed the commitment of the international community to an inclusive and accessible world.  Since the last session, Eritrea had ratified the Convention. In addition, Ireland had ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention, bringing the States parties to that instrument to 107. 

Mr. Ori then briefed the Committee on important events and developments related to disability rights at the international level since the Committee’s previous session, including the adoption of the Pact of the Future, the Global Digital Compact, and the Declaration on Future Generations in September 2024 by the General Assembly, which contained several relevant commitments for persons with disabilities. 

Additionally, on 17 December 2024, the General Assembly adopted resolution 79/149, on “Inclusive development for and with persons with disabilities”, while the Human Rights Council, during its fifty-seventh session, held from 9 September to 11 October 2024, adopted several resolutions relevant to the rights of persons with disabilities. 

In January 2025, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights published a report on the rights of persons with disabilities and digital technologies and devices, including assistive technologies.  In February, the Office published a report on the human rights dimension of care and support. Mr. Ori said there were several important upcoming events related to disability rights, including the Global Disability Summit, being held on 3 and 4 April in Berlin; the seventeenth session of the Conference of States parties in New York from 11 to 13 June 2025; and during the current fifty-eighth session of the Human Rights Council, where, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities would introduce her report.

The Office of the High Commissioner continued its work to support the strengthening of the treaty bodies, with last year being particularly challenging.  In addition to the chronic resource constraints, the liquidity crisis hampered the planning and implementation of work.  Mr. Ori assured the Committee that the Office was doing its utmost to ensure that the Committee and other treaty bodies could implement their mandates.  However, all indications pointed to a continuation of the difficult liquidity situation for the foreseeable future. 

The treaty body strengthening process remained active and reached a key moment, with the adoption last December of the biennial resolution on the treaty body system by the General Assembly. On Human Rights Day last year, an informal meeting was organised of the Chairs and focal points on working methods. The meeting explored the latest developments on the treaty body system and sought to identify possible ways forward to improve the harmonisation of procedures.  The Office of the High Commissioner would continue to work alongside the Chairs and all the treaty body experts to strengthen the system.

Mr. Ori said during this session, the Committee would hold dialogues with six parties to the Convention: Canada, Dominican Republic, European Union, Palau, Tuvalu, and Viet Nam, and would also review individual communications under the Optional Protocol.  The Committee would hold a day of general discussion on 20 March 2025 on the right of persons with disabilities to participation in political and public life, aimed to help it to elaborate a general comment on article 29 of the Convention.  Mr. Ori expressed appreciation for the Committee’s work and wished it a successful and productive session.

Discussion

In the discussion, some speakers, among other things, sincerely appreciated the efforts of the Committee to promote the rights of persons with disabilities.  They congratulated the new members who had been elected to the Committee. It was clear to see the improvement in gender and regional diversity, which spoke to the Committee’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.  The Committee should be congratulated for its work to advance and monitor the Convention. The general comment on article 29 was key to advancing disability inclusion.  The work done so far on the general comment on article 11 was welcomed. It was crucial to ensure that persons with disabilities were not left behind in any form of conflicts, including in the occupied Palestinian territory. 

One speaker said 164 States were party to the Ottowa Convention on the prohibition of anti-personnel mines and were required to provide assistance to survivors, families and communities who were victims of mines.  This Convention was the first disarmament convention which acknowledged the rights of those affected by an indiscriminate weapon, setting a positive precedent in the area of humanitarian disarmament.  Most survivors of mines had a disability, meaning the Convention on anti-personnel mines intersected with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 

A new five-year action plan, the Siam-Reap action plan, had been adopted in 2024 and included 10 actions linked to assistance to victims, and to the work of the Committee.  Some of the reports to be examined by the Committee were from States parties that had obligations to assist victims under the Convention on anti-personnel mines. The Committee was invited to include questions pertaining to mine survivors to these States. 

Another speaker said the Convention on Cluster Munitions stood as a landmark humanitarian disarmament treaty, addressing the unacceptable consequences of the use of cluster munitions, and prohibiting the use, transfer and stockpiling of these weapons.  It also established a framework for cooperation ensuring victim assistance, care and rehabilitation for survivors and clearance of contaminated areas. 

A speaker said disability, gender and discrimination were closely interlinked, with one in five women experiencing a gender-related exclusion.  Work was being done with women and girls with disabilities, including by supporting initiatives and policy work.  Programmes had been launched on mainstreaming disability within the humanitarian response to Ukrainian refugees. 

The Marrakech Treaty allowed for the production of accessible books across national boundaries for people who were print disabled; 125 countries had joined the treaty since 2013 and Colombia had ratified the treaty last week.  One million titles were now available for cross-border exchange under the treaty.  While many countries had ratified the treaty, its provisions needed to be implemented into national law to allow people who were print disabled to fully benefit from it. Member States that wished to ratify or implement the treaty would be provided with support.

One speaker said the potential lack of sign language interpretation was a concern; this would break 14 years of ensuring full inclusion of all Committee members and persons with disabilities, which was unacceptable.  Without access to sign language, deaf individuals were denied human rights and were excluded.  It was regretful that the Committee was meeting under circumstances where one of the new members, who was deaf, could not fully participate.  By continuing its thirty-second session, where a member did not have full access, the Committee was complicit in preventing the member from carrying out their full mandate.  It was hoped sign language interpretation would continue this session. The United Nations must ensure the accessibility of their events and meetings for deaf individuals to enable them to participate on an equal footing to other individuals. 

One speaker said a new organization had been developed to support an inclusive society for all and in every field, including education, labour, welfare and the economy.  In 10 years, the organization had the ambitious goal of 100 billion dollars’ worth of new business creation.  Another speaker said a project was underway to analyse the recommendations on the rights of persons with disabilities extended by the treaty bodies, the Universal Periodic Review, and the Special Procedures to see what degree of United Nations support was being extended to the implementing States. Around 12,108 recommendations had been identified as relating to the rights of persons with disabilities.  The Committee had issued the majority of the recommendations.  On initial analysis, it seemed that implementation of the Convention was falling behind, and a key part of the project would be to understand why. 

Another speaker said many persons with disabilities were locked in institutions; approximately 8.4 million people were in-patients in mental hospitals every year.  One in 10 people in institutions had been there for over 25 years, according to a study.  In 60 out of 100 countries, people were still being shackled for psychosocial disabilities. During its thirty-second session, the Committee was asked to commit to ending all forms of institutionalisation and to strengthen primary, secondary and community-based mental health care. 

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