Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities closes twenty-fifth virtual session after adopting its concluding recommendations on Djibouti and France

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities this afternoon closed its twenty-fifth virtual session after adopting its concluding observations and recommendations on the initial reports of Djibouti and France.

Odelia Fitoussi, Rapporteur of the Committee, presenting a summary of the draft report of the twenty-fifth session of the Committee, said the Committee, among others, had adopted concluding observations in relation to the initial reports of Djibouti and France; considered four individual communications submitted for its consideration under the Optional Protocol to the Convention; established a Working Group on women and girls with disabilities; adopted a draft outline of its Guidelines on deinstitutionalisation - to be published on the Committee’s website for consultation; and decided to continue its work to prepare a General Comment on article 27 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on the right to work and employment. The Committee had further continued its engagement with the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities and the Special Envoy on disability and accessibility.

The Committee had decided that its twenty-sixth session would be held in Geneva from 7 to 25 March 2022.

The Committee then adopted the concluding observations and recommendations on the initial reports of Djibouti and France and the report of the twenty-fifth session.

The concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Djibouti and France will be available on the webpage of the session.

The International Disability Alliance said the Committee’s forthcoming Guidelines on deinstitutionalisation should send a strong message to States on their obligations under the Convention, while providing them with clear practical guidance.

Rosemary Kayess, Committee Chairperson, in her concluding remarks, paid tribute to the Committee’s former member Soumia Amran, who had passed away in 2020. She offered the Committee’s condolences to Ms. Amrani’s family, friends and the disability rights movement in Morocco. Despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee had carried out constructive dialogues with France and Djibouti at its twenty-fifth session. The Committee continued to progress on its draft General Comment on the right to work and employment. She thanked all those who had contributed to the Committee’s work for their willingness to work flexibly.

At the beginning of the meeting, a number of United Nations agencies, funds, and programmes, as well as many non-governmental organizations, addressed the Committee. Among other measures, speakers called on governments to improve collection and disaggregation of reliable data on disability, and to include people with intellectual disabilities in their COVID-19 recovery plans.

The following organizations took the floor: World Health Organization, Inclusion Internacional, International Telecommunications Union, Fundación SARAKI - Proyecto América Inclusiva, World Intellectual Property Organization, Inclusion Ireland, United Nations Women, Human Rights Watch, a youth and disability rights activist, and Deepness Dementia Radio. Via video, United Nations Mine Action Service, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on disability and accessibility, and Autistic Minority International delivered remarks.

Also at the beginning of the meeting, representatives of the Division of Conference Management at the United Nations Office at Geneva, including staff from the Language Service, presented the Disability Inclusive Language Guidelines and explained the process to complete the Guidelines.

The twenty-sixth session of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is scheduled to be held in Geneva from 7 to 25 March 2022.

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