The UN Convention on Disability Rights

The United Nations (UN) set up an international human rights convention on the rights of disabled people. The UK was actively involved in this process and the Government believes it will play an important part in protecting and promoting disabled people's human rights around the world.

The UN's Enable website gives detailed information on the UN's work on disability rights, including the work of the committee that deals with the Convention on Disability Rights.

Aim of the Convention

The convention marks a significant step forward in ensuring disabled people across the world have the same human rights as every one else and sets international human rights standards for disabled people.

It aims to enable the 650 million disabled people in the world to access existing human rights.  For example, the convention covers areas such as the rights to life, access to justice, to personal mobility, to health, to education and to work.

Go to UN Enable website.

UN Convention Page

Anne McGuire, Minister for Disabled People, made a written statement to Parliament on 6 May 2008 setting out the Government's current position on the ratification of the UN Convention on Disability Rights. It set out the results of a review of laws, policies, practices and procedures in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in the light of the Convention. In her statement, Anne McGuire highlighted a number of factors affecting the ratification timetable:

• the European Union is a party to the Convention
• the Government will need to consider making reservations or interpretive declarations in some areas and discussions on this are ongoing
• the position on the Optional Protocol, a separate international treaty linked to the Convention.

You can read the full statement here (PDF, 79KB, 2 pages).

• The Government's response to the report of Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights on Adults with a Learning Disability (PDF, 1.9MB, 33 pages)
• The Government's response to the report of Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights on Adults with a Learning Disability (Department of Health Easy Read PDF, 2.7MB, 60 pages)

You can find the full report, 'A Life Like Any Other? Human Rights of Adults with Learning Disabilities', along with Easy Read PDF and audio versions, on the Publications and Records section of Parliament's website (links to the parliament.uk website).

The UK signs the United Nations Convention on Disability Rights on 30 March 2007

The UK was among first countries to sign the United Nations Convention on Disability Rights on 30 March 2007.

Anne McGuire, Minister for Disabled People, signed the convention on behalf of the UK at a ceremony held at the UN in New York.

Signature signifies the intention of the state to proceed to ratification in due course and thus be bound by the obligations which the convention places on the state.

On 12 November 2007, Anne McGuire told the Joint Committee of Human Rights of Adults with Learning Disabilities Inquiry that she had set her officials the aim of securing ratification no later than the end of 2008.

Read more on the UN Convention on Disability Rights (links to the un-convention.info website) on this independent disability-related website.