Global Headlines
- March 11th, 2010: The Government of Canada ratifies the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (C.R.P.D.). View press release concerning the ratification of the C.R.P.D. from Council of Canadians with Disabilities | View the Canadian government's press release on the ratification of the C.R.P.D. | View the list of countries that have ratified the C.R.P.D. and its Optional Protocol.
- March 4, 2010: European Court of Human Rights orders Russian government to pay 25,000 EUR compensation to a man with mental health disabilities who was unlawfully deprived of legal capacity and arbitrarily detained in a psychiatric hospital for more than six months. This is the largest amount of compensation the Court has ever awarded in a disability rights case. View the press release on the decision of the European Court of Human Rights from Mental Disability Advocacy Centre.
- December 3, 2009: The Government of Canada marked the International Day of Persons with Disabilities by tabling the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (C.R.P.D.) in the House of Commons. Tabling is the last step in the process of ratification of the C.R.P.D.
- November 6, 2009: U.N. General Assembly adopts resolution on realizing the Millenium Development Goals for persons with disabilities. U.N. General Assembly Resolution (PDF Document - 37 KB) | U.N. General Assembly Resolution (Rich Text Format - 130 KB)
- October 21st, 2009: The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (O.H.C.H.R.) will host an open-ended consultation meeting on National Frameworks for the Implementation and Monitoring of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on October 26th, 2009 in Geneva. Representatives of States, inter-governmental organizations, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations, in particular organizations of persons with disabilities, are invited to participate in the meeting. All information on the consultation and the O.H.C.H.R. study is available here.
- September 2-4, 2009: Second Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (C.R.P.D.) taking place at United Nations headquarters in New York. The meeting is focusing on legislative measures required to implement the C.R.P.D. Read more about the Second Conference of States to the C.R.P.D. meeting.
- July 22nd, 2009: U.S. President Obama will sign the U.N. Disability Convention. He will make the announcement on July 24, 2009, at a White House ceremony marking the anniversary of the adoption of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Read more about this story.
- April 14-16, 2009: Expert Group Meeting held in Geneva on Mainstreaming Disability in Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) policies, processes and mechanisms. Read more about the Disability and M.D.G.s meeting.
- March 3rd, 2009: Australian Appointed Inaugural Rapporteur to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- November 3, 2008: First Conference of States Parties on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (C.R.P.D.) elects members of new Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. For more information, read the press release from the International Disability Alliance (I.D.A.) Forum
- May 3, 2008 - U.N. Disability Convention comes into force. For more information read the following related articles from the U.N. website:
- December 13, 2006 - United Nations General Assembly formally adopts Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (C.R.P.D.). This convention represents the first core human rights treaty adopted in the twenty first century.
- Organization of American States requests input from D.P.O.s regarding the creation of a committee to monitor the Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities ... read more
- New Journal of Disability Law sponsored by Syracuse University ... read more