"Progress on International Disability Rights"
June 2004

 

By Irwin Arieff
Reuters

UNITED NATIONS, June 4 (Reuters) - A U.N. panel drafting a treaty to promote and protect the rights of the world's 600 million disabled is moving at a fast pace and hopes to complete its work late next year, participants said.

The pact would require nations ratifying it to adopt laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of any form of  disability.

The pact would also promote equal opportunity for the disabled in all aspects of life, from voting to sports.

It would, for example, require governments -- as resources permit over time -- to build wheelchair ramps and guarantee medical treatment to newborn babies with physical or mental disabilities.

"It is a very important convention because it guides a process of change, not only of legal change but also a change in societies -- as to how we view and integrate people with disabilities into our societies," said Ambassador Luis Gallegos of Ecuador, chairman of the working group writing the treaty.

While success is not assured -- work on the treaty began more than 20 years ago -- "I think there is a willingness  amongst the delegations and nongovernmental organizations to reach a consensus," Gallegos told reporters.

His goal is to have a pact ready by September 2005 for signature and eventual ratification by the United Nations' 191 member-nations, he said.

Delegates said the goal was a realistic one. The working group just completed a two-week drafting session and will  formally resume its task on Aug. 23.

The main stumbling block has been to what extent the treaty will oblige wealthy nations to provide developing countries with the financial resources and technology they need to provide the disabled with equal opportunity, participants in the negotiations said.

Another potential sticking point is the form and powers of the system to be set up to monitor abuses and ensure compliance with the treaty, they said.

The European Union has been leading the fight to oppose new financial and legal obligations on governments, they said.

But the United States, which many rights activities had feared would work to water down the treaty during negotiations, has instead restricted its participation to offering technical advice, they said. The Bush administration announced from the start that it did not intend to become a party to the treaty.

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