The second Conference of States Parties to the CRPD, was held on September 2-4 2009. IDA was in permanent contact with the Bureau of the COP in order to determine the issues to be discussed, the experts to be invited and the methodology to be used.
The COP started with an opening session which was also a high level panel on legislative measures. The panel was chaired by COP Chair Claude Heller (Mexico) and included representatives from DESA, OHCHR, the Chair of the CRPD Committee Mohammed Al-Tarawneh and the Chair of IDA Jan-Peter Strömgren.
IDA’s concrete proposals to this second COP are summarised in this document.
Roundtable on accessibility
Two members of the CRPD Committee (Ana Pelaez and Monsur Choudhuri) and two experts proposed by IDA (Anne Hawker and Wilfredo Guzman) were speakers in this roundtable which was co-chaired by Prince Raad bin Zeid al-Hussein (Jordan) and Ambassador Gabor Brodi (Hungary). A background paper had been prepared by IDA to focus interventions from the floor:
Roundtable 1 – Legislative Measures to Implement the CRPD with a focus on Accessibility & Reasonable Accommodation
Roundtable on equal recognition before the law and access to justice
Two members of the CRPD Committee (Maria Soledad Cisternas and Edah Maina) and two experts proposed by IDA (Tina Minkowitz on equal recognition before the law and Tirza Leibowitz on access to justice) were speakers in this roundtable which was co-chaired by Ms Noluthando Agatha Mayende-Sibiya (South Africa) and Ambassador Jim McLay (New Zealand). Two background papers had been prepared by IDA for this roundtable:
Roundtable 2 (Topic One) – Legislative Measures to Implement the CRPD with a focus on Equal Recognition Before the Law and Supported Decision-Making
Roundtable 2 (Topic Two) - Legislative Measures to Implement the CRPD with a focus on Access to Justice
Informal session on disability and poverty and the emerging issue of the economic crisis
This informal session was co-chaired by Ambassador Jim McLay (New Zealand) to the UN and Catalina Devandas on behalf of IDA.
A background paper had been prepared by IDA for this informal session.
The conclusions of this informal session were presented by IDA/RIADIS representative Regina Atalla to the Plenary of the COP during the last morning. Please click here for the version in English and Spanish.
Interactive dialogue with UN specialized agencies
Representatives from the OHCHR, UNDP, UNICEF, Capital Master Plan and the CRPD Committee (Amna Ali Al-Suweidi) took part at this dialogue.
Summing up by the Chair of the COP
The Chair of the COP Ambassador Claude Heller (Mexico) acknowledged proposals made by States Parties and others and indicated that these proposals would be taken into account when preparing the third COP. It was agreed that the third COP would be held in the first week of September 2010 and the Chair reminded that the third COP would include the renewal of the CRPD Committee and, if the threshold of 80 States Parties is reached prior to the COP, that the membership of the Committee would raise from twelve to eighteen.