The 68th Session of the UN General Assembly began in New York immediately following the HLMDD in September 2013. During October, IDA regularly reviewed draft resolutions of the UNGA Second (Economic and Financial) and Third (Human, Cultural and Social Rights) Committees, and provided guiding language, information and support for Member States involved in negotiations related to the rights of persons with disabilities. While there were no disability-specific resolutions during this session, IDA’s advocacy work across many Third and Second Committee resolutions resulted in an increase of disability-related language.
There has been a continued tendency in the work of the Third Committee to refer to vulnerable groups as a whole instead of mentioning specific groups by name. Despite this persistent trend, the Committee adopted numerous substantive references to disability, persons with disabilities and the UN CRPD. Seventeen resolutions in the Third Committee included new references to persons with disabilities in their resolutions. The resolutions containing these references covered a wide range of issues including: the rights of children and youth, internally displaced persons, refugees, indigenous people, women in rural areas and linguistic minorities; elections and democratic processes; torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; access to water, sanitation and food; human rights institutions; and literacy and development.