Geneva, 15 April 2013 – Today the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities opens its 9th session (15-19 April 2013) in which it will review Paraguay, adopt List of Issues on Australia, Austria and El Salvador and hold a half day of general discussion on women and girls with disabilities.
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee) is the body of independent experts which monitors implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by the States Parties. All States Parties are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee on how the rights of persons with disabilities are being implemented. The Committee examines each report, holds an interactive dialogue with the State delegation in a public session and makes recommendations on the steps which should be taken to improve CRPD implementation.
At the opening of the 9th session, taking place today at 10am, five new members (Martin Babu Mwesigwa, Monthian Buntan, Laszlo Lovaszy, Diane Mulligan and Safak Pavey) will pronounce their solemn declaration to formally join the Committee. Professor Ron McCallum is stepping down from his position as Chair and a new Chairperson and Committee bureau will be elected. Additionally, Mr Yannis Vardakastanis, IDA Chair, will deliver a statement during the opening. The opening session will be webcast live on the treaty body webcast website, along with all other public meetings of the Committee.
State Reports and Parallel Reports
All relevant reports for this session -National Reports presented by States under review, List of Issues and States’ written replies, as well as parallel reports submitted by DPOs and NGOs- are available on the Committee’s 9th Session Website.
Related documents:
- Submission on Paraguay by the DPO coalition of Paraguay in Spanish and English
- Submission on Austria by the DPO coalition of Austria: Parallel report and list of issues
- Submission on Australia by the DPO & civil society coalition: Parallel report (English and Spanish) and list of issues (English and Spanish)
- Submission on Australia by Women with Disabilities Australia: report and summary
- Joint submission on El Salvador by the DPO coalition of El Salvador and the Human Rights Defender (Procuraduría de Defensa de los Derechos Humanos)
Half-day of General Discussion on Women and Girls with Disabilities
On 17 April 2013 from 12 - 6pm, the CRPD Committee will hold a half day of general discussion focusing on women and girls with disabilities. This topic has been chosen by the CRPD Committee given the scarcity of information on the situation of women and girls with disabilities in the State Reports reviewed so far by the Committee. 33 contributions have been received which can be found at www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/DGD17April2013.aspx (including IDA’s submission for this half day of general discussion).
In connection with this discussion, the International Disability Alliance (IDA) will co-host together with Disability Rights Advocacy Fund (DRAF), a lunchtime side event on the rights of indigenous women and girls with disabilities. Speakers will include Olga Montufar, Doreen Demas and Gayle Rankine, three indigenous women with disabilities from Mexico, Canada and Australia, respectively. CRPD Committee member Silvia Quan has also kindly agreed to speak at the event.
IDA submission on indigenous women and girls with disabilities
Programme of Work and Related Meetings
In the programme of work for the 9th Session of the Committee, you can find the calendar of the reviews and other meetings held by the Committee during this week.
During this session, the following public and private* side events will also take place:
- Monday 15 April (13:30 to 14:30) – private side event on Paraguay
- Tuesday 16 April (13:30 to 14:45) – private side event on Austria
- Wednesday 17 April (9:00 to 10:00) – private side event on Australia
- Wednesday 17 April (13:15 to 14:45) – public side event on indigenous women and girls with disabilities
- Thursday 18 April (9:00 to 10:00) – private side event on El Salvador
* Private side events are only open to civil society, NHRIs and UN agencies.
All side events will take place at Palais Wilson with the exception of that on Australia and the side event on indigenous women and girls with disabilities which will take place in Room XX of Palais des Nations.
Public sessions of the CRPD Committee, including the side event on indigenous women and girls with disabilities, will be webcast live and will be archived on the treaty body webcast website.
Contact: Victoria Lee at vlee [at] ida-secretariat.org
IDA Website: http://www.internationaldisabilityalliance.org/en
IDA Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/InternationalDisabilityAllianceIDA
IDA Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/IDA_CRPD_Forum
Webcast: www.treatybodywebcast.org
