In collaboration with ADD International and the Sudanese National Union of the Physically Disabled, on 19 and 20 July 2017, the Treaty Bodies Unit of the IDA Secretariat held a 2 days workshop on the CRPD review process. This workshop was developed in the lead up to the process of review of Sudan by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, beginning next September with the adoption of the List of Issues by the Committee.
The 2-day activity gathered 25 participants from organisations of persons with disabilities and other civil society allies both from the capital and from other regions of the country. The workshop took place in the Nile Meeting Room at the Grand Holiday Villa Hotel and was a great opportunity for all the participants to learn about the CRPD review process and the many ways in which civil society is invited to engage.
The agenda of the activity included initial presentations on the CRPD and on the process of review by the CRPD Committee. More specific presentations were provided addressing some key Articles of the Convention, such as Articles 4.3 (consultation and involvement of persons with disabilities in policy design and implementation), 33 (national implementation and monitoring), and 5 (Equality and Non-discrimination).
The participants actively engaged in open group and collective discussions on the situation of the rights of persons with disabilities in Sudan, posing questions on the presentations given, addressing key topics and information and giving feedback to each other. The outcome of these conversations has contributed to the final stages of the drafting of a submission by organisations of persons with disabilities to the CRPD Committee, prior to its adoption of the List of Issues.