December 8, 2008 AM: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
Training Report - Leadership Development Course 2008
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2006, two years ago by now. Many of the participants' countries have signed the treaty and some have already ratified it. But from the discussion and opinion exchange so far, it has been made clear that even ratified, the reality that persons with disabilities are facing each day has not changed and is still far from what the convention aims for.
This morning the participants had the last lecture of the training program in Japan and the topic was CRPD. The lecturer is belongs to DPI-Japan and is in charge of CRPD. DPI-Japan serves as the secretariat of the committee on promoting the convention of Japan Disability Forum (JDF) and he has been involved in coordinating disability NGOs and the government including meetings and negotiation with the government etc.
He firstly explained why CRPD is necessary despite of many previous international laws concerning human rights and then the meaning of CRPD. He talked about paradigm shift in attitude and approaches towards persons with disabilities, changing from the view as “objects” of charity, medical treatment and social protection to the “subjects” with rights. The concepts of anti-discrimination and inclusion are at the base of the convention and it aims to ensure equality. He emphasized the participation of NGO and persons with disabilities in the process. Lastly he gave an explanation on the structure and main contents of CRPD.
Although some participants already had good knowledge about CRPD, today's lecture gave a clear and structural overview of CRPD. The participants asked questions including “why Japan has not ratified CRPD?” and “how can they make the convention into reality in their respective counties where disabled people's organizations and persons with disabilities movements are not as strong as in Japan?” He again put emphasis on the importance of movements and involvement of persons with disabilities, and encouraged the participants to use the convention as a tool and keep lobbying for the realization of CRPD. As the DPI's slogan says, “Nothing about us, without us!”
