By IDA

 - August 27, 2018

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INFORMATION NOTE

Geneva, 27 August 2018 – The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities opens its 20th session today at 10.00 hours (CET) during which it will review Algeria, Bulgaria, Malta, Philippines, Poland, South Africa and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It will also initiate the second cycle of review under the simplified reporting procedure by adopting the list of issues prior to reporting on Austria, Azerbaijan, Germany, Mongolia and Sweden; as well as adopting the list of issues on the initial report of Iraq.

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee) is the body of independent experts which monitors implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) by the States Parties.  All States Parties are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee on how the rights of persons with disabilities are being implemented.  The Committee examines each report, holds an interactive dialogue with the State delegation in a public session and makes recommendations on the steps which should be taken to improve CRPD implementation. 

During this session, the Committee will review Algeria, Bulgaria, Malta, Philippines, Poland, South Africa and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; and it will also initiate the second cycle of review under the simplified reporting procedure by adopting list of issues prior to reporting on Austria, Azerbaijan, Germany, Mongolia and Sweden; as well as adopting list of issues on the initial report of Iraq.

The Committee also plans to make advances with the draft General Comment no. 7 on Articles 4.3 and 33.3. In this sense, taking into account that the Day of General Discussion was held on June 11th in New York during the Civil Society Forum to the Conference of States Parties, the Committee will host two public events to give civil society the opportunity to raise comments on the draft general comment no. 7 (version of May this year). These events will take place on August 27 and 5 September from 3 pm to 4 pm.

On August 31st, at 5 pm, the CRPD Committee will host a celebration of the 10th years of activities of the Committee. Key partners and stay holders will be present to join the celebration and share their insights on the past decade and on the challenges laying ahead.

On September 13th, at 3 pm, the CRPD Committee will host a Celebration of the International Day of Sign Languages, with the active participation of IDA´s member the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD). See more in WFD Website.

This 20th session immediately will be followed the CRPD Committee’s 10th pre-session which took place from 24 to 27 September 2017 during which it will adopt the list of issues on Niger, Norway, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Turkey and Vanuatu.

All States reports and public written contributions by organizations of persons with disabilities, and other documents relevant to States review processes are available at the website of the Committee on its 20th session and on its 10th pre-session.

Programme of Work 

The public sessions of the CRPD Committee (see below), including State party reviews of Algeria, Bulgaria, Malta, Philippines, Poland, South Africa and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, will be webcast live by the United Nations Office of Geneva on UNTV at http://bit.ly/CRPD20. The webcast will be provided in ENGLISH, International Sign, National Sign language and national language of the countries (ensured when language is a UN language).

If audio is provided on a national language of a country which is not a UN language, it will be done so under the label “ORIGINAL” in the UN WebTV site.

All times indicated are Geneva local time- CET:

Monday 27 August
10:00 – Opening
15:00 – Public event on draft general comment no 7 on Articles 4.3 and 33.3

Tuesday 28 August
15:00 – South Africa  

Wednesday 29 August
10.00 - South Africa  
15.00 – Algeria

Thursday 30 August
10:00 – Algeria

Friday 31 August
17:00 – the celebration of the 10th years of activities of the Committee.

Monday 3 September
15:00 - Bulgaria

Tuesday 4 September
10:00 – Bulgaria
15:00 - Poland  

Wednesday 5 September
10.00 - Poland
15.00 – Public event on draft general comment no 7 on Articles 4.3 and 33.3

Monday 10 September
15:00 - The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Tuesday 11 September
10:00 – The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
15:00 - Malta  

Wednesday 12 September
10.00 - Malta
15.00 – The Philippines

Thursday 13 September
10:00 – The Philippines
15.00 – Celebration of the International Day of Sign Languages

Friday 21 September
17:00 – Closing of the session.

To learn more about the participation of the DPOs at the 20th session, please click here.

For more information on the 20th session, please visit the Committee's session website.

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