UN Disability Convention: What Next?

Sunday Island:  Sunday April 17^th 2016

April 15, 2016, 12:00 pm 

by DR. PADMANI MENDIS

Advisor, Disability and Rehabilitation

Sri Lanka ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities or UN CRPD on 08th February this year. We need now to take steps to implement this convention. In order to look forward to doing this, it would be apt to first look back so that we may have a clearer understanding of the context of this convention and its importance.

The CRPD was approved by the General Assembly on 13 December 2006. It is one that broke several records. On the day it was opened for signature at the UN in New York on 30 March 2007 there were 82 signatories, the highest number of signatories in history to a UN Convention on its opening day. It is the first human rights convention to be open for signature by regional integration organizations. It is the first comprehensive human rights treaty of the 21st century and the first legally binding instrument with comprehensive protection of the rights of people with disabilities. It holds the record for the shortest time taken in the preparation of a UN treaty ever – this had taken only five years from 2002 to 2006, while UN treaties have generally taken around 10 years to negotiate. It was the quickest to come into effect with minimum requirement of ratification by 20 countries and entered into force on 03 May 2008. And now, eight years later, it has been ratified by 163 of the 193 member states of the UN. Its importance is further certified that it is today regarded as one of the 10 "Core UN Human Rights Instruments" receiving the same status as for example the Bill of Rights. All this is evidence of the realization by the global community of the unacceptable situation of people with disabilities the world over, the level of deprivation of their human rights, and the need for all member states to take action to mitigate this situation.

And our country was there in New York the day that the UN CRPD was opened for signature on 30 March 2007. Our Minister of Social Services of the time made the special journey to the UN to place his signature on the CRPD that very day. He had, or so we thought, indicated clearly Sri Lanka’s commitment to the treaty and that the next steps would soon follow. But alas, that was not to be. It soon became clear that the commitment demonstrated to the world on that day was only a paper promise. It took nine years and the Yahapalanaya Government for our country to take the next step. With Cabinet approval finally obtained by S.B. Dissanayake, Minister of Social Empowerment and Welfare, the Government this year ratified the UN Disability Convention or CRPD in New York. With that Sri Lanka made a promise to our fellow members in the United Nations that the CRPD will be implemented in our country. It was a promise that the Government will put in place the administrative structures recommended by the CRPD for its implementation and that it will enact the necessary enabling local legislation for its enforcement.

So where are we now? What will our country do next? Or is this to be just another paper promise?

Immediate administrative actions to demonstrate commitment

CRPD is unique as far as human rights treaties go in that it is the first such treaty to include in detail how the convention should be implemented and monitored by a country. Incidentally these are two separate functions and are to be undertaken by separate institutions. Whilst implementation must be undertaken by Government, monitoring should be the responsibility of an independent mechanism, such as for instance, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. An important condition here is that people with disabilities and civil society must participate in monitoring. For domestic implementation we have agreed in the CRPD to have two strategies – focal points with responsibility for micro implementation within various Government sectors and another focal point as a broad macro mechanism also within Government for oversight and coordination of implementation.

Focal points for micro-implementation: Sri Lanka has already taken action to keep in line with this institutional requirement. The National Action Plan for Disability was designed to implement the CRPD and was approved by Cabinet in 2014. In this Plan focal points are called for in all government ministries which have to include disability within its frame of work (education, health, social welfare, sports, vocational training, housing etc). Focal points are also called for within the secretariats at all levels of the decentralized administration (provincial, district, divisional and local government). Focal points have the responsibility for seeing that the CRPD, through the National Action Plan, will reach people with disabilities in their homes and communities and impact on their lives both the international and local enabling laws to improve their situation and the environment in which they live. This is especially important in a country such as ours where over 70% of the population lives in rural and plantation areas.

The Need of the Hour – a National Disability Commission as a Macro-Mechanism

In ratifying the CRPD Sri Lanka agreed to address comprehensively all human rights of persons with disability. This then calls for the participation of practically all cabinet ministries, and perhaps even some state ministries. The CRPD recognizes that this is applicable in all countries to a greater or lesser degree. It recognizes also that a single ministry (health, social welfare, labour) is not able carry out oversight and coordination of all these other concerned ministries which is the key to successful implementation. CRPD therefore calls for a single overall mechanism to carry out these two functions (which within them includes policy-making and planning). The UN High Commissioner for Human rights elaborates on this further and calls for this mechanism to be placed "at the most senior level of government, …. close to the heart of government such as in the Office of the President or Prime Minister". Applying these requirements to Sri Lanka we urgently need to set up a body such as a National Disability Commission under the Office of the President or Prime Minister. This is not an option; it is an action we have agreed to in ratification. This is the first step Sri Lanka needs to take to initiate CRPD implementation. This first step will surely demonstrate our country’s commitment.

Legal Requirements

A draft Disability Rights Bill to provide the local enabling law for the CRPD has been in the pipeline since 2004. It has been open to the general public, to disability groups and to those who participated in preparing the previously approved National Policy on Disability. Their comments have been fed into periodic revisions of the draft. And yet the Bill remains in draft form to this day at the Ministry of Social Empowerment and Welfare. Once the National Disability Commission (or mechanism by whatever name it is called) has been decided on by Cabinet, it is imperative that the draft Bill is amended accordingly and enacted without delay so that the Government’s commitment to enforcement of the CRPD is demonstrated.

What if Sri Lanka fails to take these measures?

But what if Sri Lanka’s fails her disabled citizens once again and neglects to take these urgent measures to implement the CRPD? This will without doubt have unfortunate severe economic and other effects on our country per se. One effect will be on the review of GSP Plus status by the European Union and the other is on our status at the UN Human Rights Council.

UN CRPD and GSP Plus

The European Union has called on Sri Lanka to demonstrate that we are implementing all UN Human Rights Treaties as part of their review for restoring GSP Plus status to our country. The next mission (with the possibility of a final decision) is due in June. The CRPD, being a core human rights treaty, matters very much to the European Union. It was one of the first integrated organizations to ratify the CRPD. The prudent action for the Government to take to demonstrate that it is serious about implementing the CRPD is that it should firstly set up the National Disability Commission and secondly start processing the Disability Rights Act as the local law for the CRPD. These can be done immediately and certainly before June. If this is not done our GSP Plus status could be in serious jeopardy.

 

Sri Lanka’s standing in the UN Human Rights Commission

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is due to give a comprehensive report on Sri Lanka at the next General Assembly of the Council to be held in September. When he visited Sri Lanka last February, in his closing statement to the media (after our country had ratified) he expressed his concern about the human rights situation of Sri Lanka’s people with disabilities. They will no doubt be considered when he makes his statement in September. So if the Government does not want to be failing in this too it had better get its act together and take the two measures listed above in this article. It is worth recalling these words of the UN High Commissioner when he addressed the last HRC General Assembly in March this year.

"I am also disturbed by a widespread practice of what could be termed "human rights window-dressing". The ratification of treaties and agreements, and acceptance of recommendations stemming from UN human rights mechanisms, are not in themselves human rights achievements. There needs to be follow-up and real change to bring greater freedoms and dignity to the people. Unless consequential at the level of the rights of the individual, the work we do will remain bureaucratic – or even theatre. Human rights obligations should not be a "tick-the-box" exercise designed only to boost a country’s international image."

 

e-mail:    mendisnl@sltnet.lk;   padmanimendis@hotmail.com;

BlogSpot;  http://padmanimendis.blogspot.com/

 

Interview on TV1 regarding the UN CRPD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JK6Y5f62js 

 

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 Disability and UN Convention

March 10, 2016, 9:26 pm 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By DR PADMANI MENDIS,  Advisor, Disability and Rehabilitation

 

Sri Lanka has a long tradition of sharing with our disabled citizens the state’s largesse when it comes to welfare. The state provides grants for medical expenses and self-employment, assistive devices free of cost, cash transfers to those who have low incomes and provides youth with vocational training in special institutions. The state also subsidizes homes which house children with disabilities and those special schools run only for them by NGOs and the private sector. These unfortunately reach limited numbers because budgets have of necessity to be restricted. Within our society, on our birthdays and in remembrance of our relatives who have passed on, we follow a tradition of giving alms as meals to people in residential homes and donate gifts to individuals. The state and society both see them as in need of "social services" synonymous with "charity" This has been the situation in Sri Lanka for many decades. People with disabilities are beneficiaries of goodwill and charity.

 

And yet this article puts forward the viewpoint that Sri Lanka neglects our citizens with disabilities. The context for this statement is that the World of Disability has moved on, has changed, and Sri Lanka has not kept up with those changes. Global Society has moved away from seeing people with disability as mere objects of charity isolated from the mainstream of society. No more is it enough for people with disabilities to be just beneficiaries of special state allocations and segregated services. Neither is it enough for them to be just receivers of other people’s largesse. People with disabilities are citizens with equal rights and responsibilities. Both as individuals and as a group they are of equal worth as any other. They are entitled to an equitable share of the country’s resources. They have the right to participate in whatever other citizens participate in –whether it be the same schools, the same workplaces, the same social institutions. These institutions need to change to accommodate and include people with disabilities. This is far from the reality in Sri Lanka – we still do not see people with disabilities as human beings in their own right with hopes and aspirations, dreams and desires like our own.

 

Changes in Disability

 

Global changes in disability came about as a result of a deeper understanding of disability and its causes. First came the acceptance that the situation of disability is largely caused by stigma and societal attitudes – we perceive them as being different as human beings with different needs. Because they cannot see, or hear or speak or behave or learn or move like we do they are not seen as "human beings just like us". And so the resulting discrimination, the inequalities, the separate services, the name calling. They cannot attend our weddings and our social celebrations. They cannot use our public transportation. It is time for us to change and catch up with the World. We must aim at removing those barriers that keep people with disabilities out of our lives, out of our communities, out of what we do. It is time to stop our neglect of them.

 

The acceptance of the social cause of disability was followed by a clearer understanding of the functional cause of disability. Disability follows an illness or accident which alters an individual’s health condition. This alteration we call disability. Any human being can have an illness, and so it follows that any human being can have disability. Therefore disability is a part of being human – it is a part of us, a part of the rich diversity of our human race.

 

UN Convention on Disability

 

It is this acceptance and understanding that led to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) which was approved by the General Assembly in 2006. This instrument recognizes in International Law that people with disabilities have the same Human Rights as all others. They have the right to equality of opportunity and to equal access to goods and services; the right not to be discriminated against; the right to decide what they will participate in, have access to those and be accepted and included; and most of all they have a right to live their lives in dignity and independence with the freedom to make their own choices.

 

We need to thank Hon. S. B. Dissanayake Minster of Social Empowerment and Welfare and the Government for having ratified the UN Convention on the 8th of February this year, 9 years after Sri Lanka placed its signature on it in April 2007. That this delay in ratification was an extension of our neglect of people with disabilities is a valid assumption.

 

And yet during these 9 years some fundamental measures called for to implement the CRPD have been put in place Affordable and Rights-Based National Policies and National Action Plans have been approved by Cabinet. Legislation to enforce implementation of these as well to serve as the local enabling legislation for the CRPD has been drafted but is yet to be enacted. One can justify asking the question of whether these were merely tokens over the years in an attempt to keep a small pressure group quiet?

 

The assumption of neglect has further grounds because of the absence of action. We need then to ask, how serious are we really about the ratification of the UN Convention? Was it just another token but this time to satisfy the "international community"? We need to take note of the fact that even after we ratified it the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in his closing statement to the Sri Lankan media last month mentioned his concern about the human rights situation of our people with disabilities.

 

If Sri Lanka is serious about implementing the Convention and improving the lives of our disabled children and adults, we need to take the next step called for in the Convention. We need to establish a body such as a National Disability Commission to see that that the Convention is implemented through the cabinet-approved National Action Plan for Disability. Article 33 of the Convention describes how implementation is to be done within countries and the need for a mechanism within Government. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights elaborates on this further in a special report. This Report in no uncertain terms calls for this body to be placed "at the most senior level of Government close to the heart of Government such as in the Office of the President or Prime Minster .. ". The High Commissioner’s report states clearly that it should best not be under a single ministry such as social welfare, labour or education. Reasons for this are that this Body within the Government responsible for the implementation of the Convention needs to reflect" an understanding of human rights" which is a cross-ministerial issue of immense proportions. It needs to be at a level that can provide oversight and coordination, and hence in the Office of the P.M. or President. The mandate of this Body includes also liaising with a separate independent commission designated with the task of monitoring national implementation.

Hope for the Future

 

Perhaps the biggest barrier in Sri Lanka to eliminating neglect of disability issues is the lack of interest in people with disabilities on the part of politicians, professionals and administrators - namely those who have the power to change the situation. People with disabilities are among the poorest and most marginalized of our vulnerable groups of citizens. They have no voice. Who will voice concern for their future? Will the National Disability Commission, the enactment of a new Disability Rights Act and the implementation of the UN Convention through the National Plan of Action for Disability become a reality? When they do, we could say that Sri Lanka has stopped neglecting her citizens with disabilities. We can have hope that they will be recognized and accepted as citizens with equal rights, included in the mainstream of Sri Lankan Society.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV18YWY2gY0&feature=youtu.be