From 5 - 8 October 2015, IDA carried out a mission to Lima to follow up on the progress made by Peru on implementing recommendations from the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee) as well as other UN human rights bodies related to the rights of persons with disabilities (CESCR, CEDAW, CAT, Human Rights Committee & UPR). The mission aimed to collect information on the advances made by Peru to uphold UN recommendations on the rights of persons with disabilities as well as to identify areas that pose as continued challenges. A report is being drafted and will be presented to the State Party as well as shared with the CRPD Committee.
The follow-up mission included the participation of Silvia Quan Chang, Vice Chair of the CRPD Committee together with representatives of IDA, Raquel Jelinek Mendelsohn of Inclusion International and Inclusion Interamericana, IDA’s Executive Director as well as other members of the IDA secretariat. The mission team met with state bodies across the three branches of government including the Congress, Supreme Court, and a range of Ministries including the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The mission also consisted in exchanging with the Defensoría del Pueblo (Ombudsman) which is the Peruvian National Human Rights Institution, as well as with civil society encompassing NGOs and DPOs, including those sitting within the National Coordinating Body of Human Rights (Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos), and finally with a representative of the UN country team in Peru. This first ever follow up mission with a specific focus on the human rights of persons with disabilities was centred on participation, inclusive education and legal capacity, the latter which was addressed in a joint Commission hearing at the Congress together with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Catalina Devandas.