Earlier this month, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights published its Concluding Observations on Albania, Cyprus, Honduras, Iceland, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, and Poland, adopted during its 76th session (9th to 27th September). The Committee included recommendations on and explicit references to issues of persons with disabilities in all the 13 concluding observations adopted during 2024, reaching a total of 65 recommendations and references.
The International Disability Alliance has produced its compilations of Disability-Related Extracts from the Concluding Observations for the sessions 75th and 76th held in 2024. The compilations are available in MS Word and PDF formats in IDA's dedicated webpage here.
Leading up to this last 76th session, the International Disability Alliance, together with the Disability Rights Funds, provided support and coordinated advocacy efforts with the Federation of Disability Organizations in Malawi (FEDOMA), which submitted an alternative report for the session in consultation with affiliates and the University of Malawi Disability Rights Clinic, available here, and had the opportunity for a representative to attend the session in person in Geneva, Switzerland. This supportive effort by the International Disability Alliance adds to previous support provided to OPDs from Sweden for the 75th session and from Angola, Namibia and Georgia for the 74th Pre-sessional working group, held from March 4th to 8th.
While IDA encourages you to review the full Concluding Observations or its compilation of Disability-Relevant Extracts, some key concerns and recommendations specific to persons with disabilities can be highlighted. In 2024, the 75th and 76th sessions of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights covered a range of important issues related to the rights of persons with disabilities including:
- Discrimination and social inclusion
- Access to inclusive quality education
- Employment:
- Poverty and economic inequality
- Social protection
- Infrastructure and accessibility
The 75th session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in February 2024 reviewed six countries and issued disability-related recommendations for all of them, reaching a total of 31 recommendations. Key issues include:
- Indonesia: The Committee raised concerns over the use of shackling on people with psychosocial disabilities and recommended preventing this practice and improve mental health services. The Committee was concerned about the lack of school infrastructure and digital access, with recommendations to enhance education quality and access, especially for children with disabilities.
- Iraq: The Committee raised concerns about unemployment, particularly among marginalized groups like people with disabilities. Recommendations included enhancing vocational training and combating poverty, with particular attention to disadvantaged groups including persons with disabilities.
- Ireland: The Committee pointed out the lack of disaggregated data on discrimination, calling for better data collection and comprehensive anti-discrimination laws. It emphasized improving employment opportunities and tackling poverty, especially for disadvantaged groups. In particular, it recommended to "[t]ake measures to ensure that the minimum wage applies to all workers, all sectors and all forms of employment, including by repealing sections [...] 35 (1), on different rates of remuneration for persons with disabilities, of the Employment Equality Act".
- Mauritania: Issues with unemployment, education access, and social security, especially for marginalized groups, were highlighted. Recommendations included improving education quality and infrastructure and to "[g]uarantee access to quality education for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, in particular [...] children with disabilities;"
- Romania: Concerns were raised about discrimination against marginalized groups, lack of social housing, and high school dropout rates among Roma and rural children. Recommendations included addressing discrimination education, improving employment conditions for vulnerable groups, and to "[i]ncrease the availability of adequate and affordable housing, in particular by expanding the supply of social housing, paying particular attention to members of disadvantaged and marginalized groups, such as [...] persons with disabilities...";
- Sweden: Concerns about discrimination, particularly in employment and housing, were raised. The Committee recommended stronger anti-discrimination measures, including ensuring that "effective judicial remedies and accessible legal aid, in addition to administrative remedies are available to victims of harassment, hate crimes and discrimination on the grounds of disability...", and seeking improvements in education, especially addressing disparities in access for marginalized students.
The 76th Session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in September 2024 covered seven countries: Albania, Cyprus, Honduras, Iceland, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi and Poland. All seven countries received disability-related recommendations, with a total of 34 specific references to disabilities. A common recommendation to Albania, Iceland, Malawi and Poland was to consider ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Other key issues include:
- Albania: Issues with accessible infrastructure and inclusive education were identified. Recommendations included improving public infrastructure by fully implementing Law No. 93/2014 on Inclusion and Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities and its related by-laws and other measures, and ensuring inclusive education for children with disabilities by " ensuring the provision of accessible and adapted materials, inclusive curricula, and individualised support and accommodation."
- Cyprus: Concerns focus on unemployment among persons with disabilities and the lack of support for families with disabled children. Recommendations suggest targeted employment schemes and inclusive education reforms, as well as to "[t]ake all the necessary measures to ensure that children with disabilities can enjoy their right to grow up in a family environment".
- Honduras: The focus is on combating discrimination against disadvantaged groups, including persons with disabilities. Recommendations stress the need for ensuring access to effective remedies and reparations to victims of discrimination and violence; and inclusive employment strategies and access to social security.
- Iceland: High unemployment among persons with disabilities, violence against them, and poverty are significant issues. Recommendations include promoting employment and combating poverty for vulnerable groups, including by enhancing "efforts to increase the amount of old age pension, unemployment and disability benefits to ensure they provide an adequate standard of living for all recipients."
- Kyrgyzstan: Persistent structural discrimination, including against persons with disabilities, is highlighted. The country was urged to adopt comprehensive anti-discrimination laws, improve social security access and increase efforts to reduce unemployment by implementing public sector employment schemes, vocational training programmes, and partnerships with the private sector, ensuring that its policies tackle the root causes of unemployment, paying particular attention to [...] persons with disabilities...".
- Malawi: The country lacks a comprehensive anti-discrimination legal framework, leading to stigma and unemployment for disabled people. Recommendations call for better inclusive education, social protection through the Social Cash Transfer Program (SCTP) "providing both basic income security and, when necessary, disability-related costs", and adopting "a comprehensive labour strategy with a precise, time-bound action plan to support women, youth and persons with disabilities in accessing decent employment...".
- Poland: Issues with non-discrimination, employment for persons with disabilities and insufficient enforcement of accessibility laws were noted. Recommendations encourage "public education programmes on discriminatory norms and beliefs to combat the stigmatization of [...] persons with disabilities," and targeted employment programs and better legal protections.
