After days of uncertainty, full accessibility guaranteed for 34th Session of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The United Nations Office at Geneva announced that accessibility services would not be provided for the 34th session of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) or for disability rights-related panels at the 61st session of the Human Rights Council. This was due to the ongoing liquidity crisis at the United Nations .The announcement raised concerns among organisations of persons with disabilities, as it would have excluded Deaf and hard-of-hearing participants and others who require captioning and the International Sign of important public discussions.

IDA responded immediately, stating that the decision was discriminatory and inconsistent with human rights obligations. IDA sent formal letters to high-level UN officials responsible for conference management and human rights, urging urgent action. IDA recognised the financial difficulties facing the UN system but requested solutions to ensure that persons with disabilities are not excluded from processes concerning their rights. By the end of the week, IDA received written confirmation that discussions had begun to reprioritise funding for accessibility services. The CRPD Committee then updated its website to confirm that the 34th session would proceed as planned. The Committee also published the full Programme of Work and an informative note for participants.

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This situation has led organisations of persons with disabilities to emphasise that accessibility services are not optional. They are the minimum requirements for the proper functioning of human rights mechanisms, at least those concerning the rights of persons with disabilities. Lack of accessibility limits participation and weakens monitoring. IDA welcomed the response from UN leadership and hopes that accessibility will remain a priority across all UN activities related to the rights of persons with disabilities and be expanded to other areas. This means restoring previous levels of accessibility, including national sign language interpretation during dialogues with States, full provision of reasonable accommodation for Deaf Committee members, and reasonable accommodation for all participants. It also entails strengthening the implementation of the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy.

This episode emphasises a key takeaway: accessibility services are fundamental, not discretionary, for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities within international mechanisms. While confirming these services for the CRPD Committee’s 34th session is important and welcome, the disability community stresses that accessibility is mandatory and must be guaranteed, not jeopardised by administrative austerity measures that disregard the basic principle of non-discrimination. IDA welcomes progress on accessibility while calling for consistent implementation across UN meetings, including captioning, sign language interpretation, accessible documents, webcasting and inclusive hybrid participation.

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