DEPARTMENT FOR WORK
AND PENSIONS News Release (DRC-131) issued by COI News Distribution
Service on 8 June 2009
The UK has today
ratified an international treaty that enshrines the human rights
of disabled people, Jonathan Shaw, Minister for Disabled People
has announced.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities is a powerful and explicit statement, which states
that disabled people must be able to enjoy, on an equal basis, the
same human rights as others.
Jonathan Shaw said: "There are an estimated 650 million
disabled people in the world, including over 10 million in the UK.
The ratification of the Convention is a very significant landmark,
for disabled people and for UK Government and society as a whole.
Not only does it show the Government's commitment to equality
of human rights for disabled people, but our determination to
achieve equality by 2025.
"Now that we have ratified we can start implementing the
Convention, building on the approach towards disability equality
set out in our 2005 report 'Improving the Life Chances of
Disabled People'. We aim to start the Parliamentary process
for ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention shortly."
Notes to editor:
1. The Convention is designed to promote, protect and ensure the
human rights, freedom and dignity of disabled people. It
explicitly sets out the rights that disabled people have and
should be able to enjoy on the same basis as other people - for
example, the right to dignity, freedom, equality and justice. It
also provides direction on how human rights should be interpreted
from the
perspective of disabled people all over the world.
2. Government has been working towards ratification since it
signed the Convention in March 2007. As part of that process all
Government Departments and the Devolved Administrations have
considered the compliance of their legislation, policies, and
programmes against the
requirements of the Convention.
3. Government will be working closely with disabled people and
their organisations on implementation of the Convention, and will
be exploring how to raise awareness, and how to take forward
monitoring and reporting processes.
4. The Optional Protocol establishes two additional procedures in
respect of implementation and monitoring of the Convention. This
includes an avenue that will enable individuals, who feel their
rights have been breached, to bring petitions to the UN Committee,
set up to monitor implementation of the Convention.
5. The decision to sign this Optional Protocol does not set a
precedent for similar individual complaints mechanisms. These will
continue to be considered on their merits on a case by case basis.
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Website: http://www.dwp.gov.uk
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