From CBC News:

Canada has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Speaking at the UN in New York, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said the action underscores the Canadian government’s commitment to “promoting and protecting the rights of persons with disabilities and enabling their full participation in society.”

Advocates say the ratification will require provincial governments to make changes, like requiring schools to provide inclusive education for all students. They say some Canadian students with disabilities are still being restricted to segregated school sites.

Canada is host to this year’s winter Paralympic Games.

See also: Who will fund accessibility compliance?

From USA Today, AP:

President Obama announced today that the U.S. will sign the the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a document which urges all nations to guarantee equal protection to people with disabilities.

His announcement came in a White House ceremony marking the 19th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The ADA showed the entire world our commitment to people with disabilities,” Obama said during a White House ceremony for “an historic piece of civil rights legislation.”

… “I’m proud of the progress we’ve made,” Obama said. “But I’m not satisfied.”

See earlier posts.

From CBS News, AP:

Mr. Obama will sign a proclamation celebrating the 19th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. He will also announce that the U.S. will sign UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Secretary of State Clinton will introduce the president.

From the Census Bureau: FAQs about people with disabilities

UCLA graduate student Victor Pineda calls on the United Arab Emirates to implement the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Pineda, who participated in negotiating the treaty, is the 2009 Fulbright-Hays Fellow at the Dubai School for Government.

From The National newspaper in Abu Dhabi:

Often considered a burden on the community, disabled persons are regularly isolated and stigmatised by society, while the gifts these citizens could give their communities are wasted. Studies prove that progressive public policies towards those with special needs benefit all citizens.

… Providing work opportunities and education for people with special needs is not enough, we need their active involvement in the decisions that affect them. We need their voices and their vision and we need them to become self-sufficient and to contribute to their community.

Many countries have started this process and the UAE can too. This, according to indicators by the World Bank, brings benefits to the disabled individual, to their household and to various sectors of government.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Disability rights leaders from the European Union and the United States met at the University of Pittsburgh last week to discuss a United Nations treaty and exchange information about disability access, information technology and transportation.

The UN’s disability rights convention has been signed by 139 countries and ratified by 57. The United States has neither signed nor ratified the treaty.

Marca Bristo, president of the U.S. International Council on Disabilities, took the nation to task for its lack of action on the treaty.

“The UN convention is an incredible opportunity to change the world, but many people in the U.S. don’t know what it is. We need to catch up,” she said, noting that President Barack Obama supports ratification.

“We have an important role to play. We have a lot to learn and a lot to give.”

From the [Canadian] National Post:

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been signed by 50 nations. Although Canada signed almost two years ago, it has yet to ratify the accord.

Advocates say Canada continues to lag behind in providing full inclusion for people with disabilities, and that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has failed to deliver on his campaign promise of a Canadians with Disabilities Act.

“We have had human rights legislation in various forms in Canada for many years now. Ensuring those rights, especially for those with intellectual disabilities, has been overlooked and neglected,” says Catherine Frazee, a professor at Ryerson University’s school of disability studies in Toronto and former chief commissioner for the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

See also:

Struggle For A Voice — [Canadian] National Post

The Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL) works to ensure basic human rights for the estimated 700,000 Canadians who have an intellectual disability. While progress has been made, officials say their work is still an uphill struggle.

“There is still tremendous disparity across Canada,” says CACL president Bendina Miller. “Access to education, employment, accommodation and basic support services depends largely on where you live.

“… We want national recognition that an intellectual disability does not make you a second-or third-class person. Yet despite being a society that embraces diversity, we still have a paradoxical approach to those with intellectual disabilities.”

Dick Thornburgh and Paul Steven Miller, writing in the Seattle Times, urge that the U.S. sign the UN International Treaty on the Rights of People with Disabilities. The treaty could benefit one-quarter of humanity, they say: the 650 million people, as well as their families, who live with disabilities.

As former officials of two different presidential administrations, one Republican and one Democratic, we strongly believe that this treaty is consistent with American law.

… The treaty enshrines important principles that Americans hold dear: nondiscrimination, equal protection under the law and the right to autonomy and independent living in integrated, community settings.

The U.S. reluctance to sign this treaty has been painful and puzzling to us. The treaty provides important protections, beyond the specific protections of the American law, which level the playing field for people with disabilities. And we should not be so proud as to think we cannot learn from other countries about even better opportunities for people with disabilities.

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