 The Convention
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The Convention
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol was adopted on 13 December 2006 at the United Nations headquarters in New York, and was opened for signature on 30 March 2007. There were 82 signatories to the Convention, 44 signatories to the Optional Protocol, and 1 ratification of the Convention, making this is the highest number of signatories in history to a Convention on its opening day. It is the first comprehensive human rights treaty of the 21st century and is the first human rights Convention to be open for signature by regional integration organizations.
There are currently 136 signatory states; the European Community has also signed.
This information and more, including the full text of the Convention can be found on the UN Enable Web site.
In brief
- Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 13, 2006
- 8th Universal Convention on Human Rights and 1st of this millennium
- 136 countries have signed it as of September 2008
- 41 have ratified it, making it an enforceable legal instrument as of May 3, 2008
Accessibility to ICT
- Accessibility to ICT is defined as a fundamental right equivalent to accessibility to buildings and transportation
- 14 out of the 32 non-procedural articles of the Convention define accessibility mandates and have implications for ICT, some specific, some implied:
- Generally defined in relation to a desired outcome, rather than in specific technical terms
- Cover both public and private sectors