The International Disability Alliance provided technical support to Mesa Discapacidad y Derechos from Perú to submit an alternative report for the 98th session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which can be found here.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child has already published its Concluding Observations of the 98th session. In the case of Peru, a total of twelve recommendations reference disability and children with disabilities. These include the recommendation to "[r]efrain from institutionalizing children with disabilities and provide alternative measures that integrate them into the community" (para. 31(e)) and to "[e]nsure that all children with disabilities have access to inclusive education in mainstream schools, ensuring that schools are equipped with trained teachers, accessible infrastructure and teaching materials adapted to the needs of children with disabilities" (para. 39(a)). These recommendations directly address two major concerns raised by the Mesa Discapacidad y Derechos in its alternative report.
The International Disability Alliance will publish the Disability Related Extracts (DRE) of the CRC Committee's Concluding Observations adopted during its 98th session, once the Committee publishes the Concluding Observations on Eritrea, which remain pending. For now, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has published its Concluding Observations on Ecuador, Gambia, Honduras, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Slovakia. Check the DRE to find out what the CRC Committee recommends States in relation to children with disabilities. They will be available soon here!
With support from Sightsavers, Inclusion Ghana had the opportunity to engage with the CRC Committee's 100th Pre-Sessional Working Group (PSWG), making possible the participation of a child human rights defender with disabilities - a rare and significant milestone. This collaboration is worth highlighting and underscores the importance of amplifying the voices of children with disabilities in international human rights mechanisms. IDA provided insights and recommendations ahead of the engagement. The PSWG subsequently adopted the List of Issues on Ghana, addressing key areas such as inclusive education, prevention of institutionalization, and data collection in preparation for the country’s review in September.
The International Disability Alliance provided financial support to the Coalición por la Implementación de la CDPD de Colombia, which had submitted an alternative report (available here), enabling two of their representatives to advocate before the 100th Pre-Sessional Working Group of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which was responsible for adopting of List of Issues on Colombia, among other countries.
Ms Sabrina Pachón Torres, deaf activist and current Director of the Corporación Polimorfas, an organization of women with disabilities, and Ms Nicole Meneses, member of the Programa de Acción por la Igualdad y la Inclusión Social – PAIIS, of the University of Los Andes, Colombia, which operates as Secretariat of the Coalition, benefited from IDA support and engaged with the CRC Committee PSWG.
The List of Issues finally adopted by the PSWG calls on Colombia to provide further information on children with disabilities, particularly in relation to data collection, measures against discrimination and dissagregated data by type of disability, especially concerning living arrangement (with natural family, foster family or institutions), on schooling (whether mainstream or special school, or not attending any school), ahead of the State review in September this year.
During their stay in Geneva, Switzerland, IDA facilitated additional meetings with Geneva-based disability rights actors. In this context, representatives from Inclusion Ghana, Ms Pachón Torres and Ms Meneses from Colombia, had the opportunity to meet Mr Stefan Tromel, Senior Disability Specialist at the International Labour Organization, and Ms Martyna Balciunayte, member of the OHCHR Human Rights and Disability Team, to discuss the situation of disability rights in Colombia, the work of both UN actors, and potential syn ergies and collaboration.
