IDA welcomes the initiative of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to formulate a General Comment on the rights of adolescents with disabilities and encourages the Committee to ensure that its discussion and ensuing outcome document/and or General Comment on the subject fully include the perspective and rights of youth / adolescents with disabilities in line with the latest developments and standards of international human rights law as enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The period of adolescence is a time of rapid and dynamic change physically, emotionally and socially which brings young people into many new and diverse situations of learning and exploration. Harnessing and nurturing their skills and the exercise of their rights will ensure that adolescents are both a major human resource for development and key agents for social change, economic development and technological innovation. The ways in which the challenges and potentials of young people are addressed by policy will influence current social and economic conditions and the well-being and livelihood of future generations.
The world is currently witnessing the largest ever youth cohort in history, all in the midst of rapid forces of globalization, escalating demographics, climate change, knowledge-fuelled pursuit, and shifting inequalities. These are shaping the situation of children and young people and setting the post-2015 path. Not surprisingly, targets in social development both at the country and global levels are aiming clearly at children, women and youth.
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