The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, like the other United Nations human rights conventions, resulted from decades of activity during which group rights standards developed from aspirations to binding treaties.
The Convention became one of the most quickly supported human rights instruments in history, with strong support from all regional groups. 160 States signed the Convention upon its opening in 2007 and 126 States ratified the Convention within its first five years.
The Convention follows the civil law tradition, with a preamble, in which the principle that
"all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated "
of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action is cited.
The 25-subsection preamble explicitly mentions
sustainable development, notes that "disability" is an "evolving concept" involving interaction between impairments and environmental factors and mentions the importance of a "gender perspective".
The purpose of the Convention is to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.
There are eight guiding principles that underlie the
Convention, delineated in Article 3:
1. Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy including the freedom to make one's
own choices, and independence of persons
2. Non-discrimination
3. Full and effective participation and inclusion in society
4. Respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human
diversity and humanity
5. Equality of opportunity
6. Accessibility
7. Equality between men and women
8. Respect for the evolving capacities of children with disabilities and respect for the right
of children with disabilities to preserve their identities
A lot of development has been done after 2006 by the United Nations and its members.
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