Civil Society CRPD Forum

For the novices (like myself) in the UN conventions world, here is a summary of some events that happen in the context of the the CRPD, in which civil society can, and should participate:

Constructive dialogues are held between Civil Society Organizations (CSO's), Disabled Persons Organizations (DPO's), state parties (countries that signed the convention) and the UN CRPD committee in regular periods of time. The purpose of these dialogues is to make sure that states parties are working on concrete directions to implement the CRPD, and to suggest directions on addressing areas that need improvement. Those recommendations are done through Concluding Observations, which are issued to each country after their dialogue.

The Convention of the States Parties (COSP) is an annual event where all states parties come together to discuss best practices, share experiences and to learn from others.

This year's COSP is the 10th of such events, and the theme is:
(https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/conference-of-states-parties-to-the-convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-2/cosp10.html#theme)

“The Second Decade of the CRPD: Inclusion and full participation of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in the implementation of the Convention”

Sub-themes:

• Addressing the impact of multiple discrimination on persons with disabilities and promoting their participation and multi-stakeholder partnerships for achieving the SDGs in line with the CRPD;
• Inclusion and full participation of persons with disabilities in humanitarian action;
• Promoting inclusive urban development and implementation of the New Urban Agenda –  Habitat III.

Prior to the COSP, a Civil Society forum is held. In this forum, best practices amongst CSOs from around the globe are shared and discussed in multiple panels and dialogues.

The CRPD committee chair (Theresia Degener) opened this session emphasizing how multiple layers of discrimination are especially important for women and girls, and how important it is that we identify solutions to reduce those multiple discriminations.

The UN special rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities (Catalina Devandas) raised a few points:
We must have active participation of CSOs and DPOs to make possible the advance of implementation through active monitoring.
Data collection and data disaggregation by disability is urgent, otherwise we will not be able to monitor the impact of different disabilities in the population. The methodology suggested by the Washington group should be used as reference.

Very excited to for the next panels coming up on the practical implementation of the article 4.3 and addressing multiple forms of discrimination.

Keiko Shikako-Thomas, PhD, OT, Canada Research Chair in Childhood Disabilities: Participation and Knowledge Translation

#CSFCRPD #CRPD17