Review of the UK Governments’ compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People
Last year the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) assessed the UK’s progress in implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The Committee concluded that the government was guilty of “grave and systematic” violations of disabled people’s rights under the Convention, and made 11 recommendations for improvements
Disability groups will be in Geneva this week to provide evidence on human rights violations to the UN Committee on the Rights of Disabled People. The public examination of the UK government will take place on the 23rd and 24th August.
This is the first time the Committee will review a State that it has previously had under Inquiry for violating the Convention on the Rights of Disabled People. Disability activists will draw attention to the UK Government’s dismissal of recommendations for action noted by the Inquiry.
The public examination will be available to watch online on webtv.un.org
More information on the UNCRDP
For more information about the Review of the UK and devolved Governments’ compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People go to the DW website: http://www.disabilitywales.org/crpd17/
Watch with Disability Wales in Cardiff
DW will show the live stream of the proceedings in their function room – if you would like to join other disabled people to watch and comment on the questions and answers during the session then please book your space. The live stream includes BSL and subtitles.
Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided and there is a cafe over the road. They cannot cover travel or food expenses. There is a large car park and a number of blue badge spaces outside the office. We are also a 15 minute walk from the train and bus station and 5 minute taxi ride from there.
Guardian article by Mary O’Hara, 15 August 2017: Liz Sayce: ‘The UK thinks it is a leader in disability rights. But it has a long way to go’
In the quarter century that Liz Sayce, 63, has been an advocate for disability rights, she has witnessed momentous changes. But the former chief executive of Disability Rights UK (DRUK), who stepped down from the role earlier this summer, believes that the movement has reached a critical moment.
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Next week a delegation from DRUK and other organisations is travelling to Geneva – and is expected to highlight concerns about the government’s response to a UN committee’s investigation into the upholding of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Last year, the committee concluded that the government was guilty of “grave and systematic” violations of disabled people’s rights under the convention, and made 11 recommendations for improvements. All were rejected by ministers. Sayce says this “unfortunate response” is discouraging.
She believes it is crucial that protecting and securing rights is a priority, during a time when people with disabilities have borne the brunt of austerity policies and disabled people’s organisations have had to vociferously resist a vast array of cuts to benefits and social care. Initiatives such as the Work Programme, policies like the bedroom tax and benefits sanctions, moves to alter social care criteria so it is harder for people to access support, and the abolition of the Independent Living Fund for severely disabled people have made resistance essential, she adds.
A damning 2013 DRUK report called for the Work Programme to be scrapped for unemployed disabled people. “The culture of pressurising people to take up ineffective, one-size-fits-all programmes has failed disabled people,” she says. She asserts that the wider goal of the disability rights movement, pushing for “equal participation” in society, needs to underpin actions. “We’re not just saying [individual policies] are important. We’re saying that belonging and participating in society are critical. They are human rights and they are crucial to human wellbeing.” Sayce believes that being an organisation led largely by people with disability or long-term health conditions is central to DRUK achieving its objectives, including lobbying and influencing.
Earlier this year, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) concluded that despite progress over the years, disabled people are still not treated as equal citizens. Its report outlined a litany of “missed opportunities and failures” across six key areas of life. These included gaps in educational attainment between disabled children and their non-disabled peers, and high rates of unemployment and poverty. This analysis came just months after the UN investigation.
Mirror article, by Ben Glaze, 21 Aug 2017: Disability campaigners from Britain tell the United Nations the Government has betrayed people in the UK
