RI Immediate Release

Global Disability Network Celebrates Adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

(United Nations, 13 December 2006) - RI welcomes today's adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by the UN General Assembly and congratulates all governments, civil society representatives and international organizations for their important contributions to the negotiations.

The Convention - the first core human rights treaty of the 21st century - represents an important legal instrument prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities in all areas of life, and includes specific provisions related to rehabilitation, education, health and access to information, public facilities and services. Another key provision of the new Convention is the establishment of a committee of experts, including people with disabilities, to monitor the progress on implementation in States who join the treaty.

The Convention will be open for signature on March 30, 2007, and RI calls on all governments to sign and ratify the treaty as a matter of priority. 20 ratifications are needed for the treaty to become international law. RI President Michael Fox said, "UN General Assembly adoption of this Convention significantly advances the rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities worldwide. A sustained and collaborative effort - with disability organizations, advocates, governments and international organizations - is now required to translate the treaty into achievable policies and laws." The treaty marks the beginning of a significant paradigm shift to recognizing the full rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities as equal members of society, and is the result of five years of negotiations, with unprecedented participation of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations, including many RI members and colleagues.

For more information on the UN Convention and contact details of experts within the RI membership, please contact Tomas Lagerwall (sg@riglobal.org), RI Secretary General, or Leonor Coello (leonor@riglobal.org ), Membership Coordinator, at +1-212-420-1500.

About RI
Founded in 1922, RI is a global network of people with disabilities, government agencies, service providers, researchers and advocates promoting and implementing the rights and inclusion of people with disabilities. RI is currently composed of over 700 members and affiliated organizations in 93 nations, in all regions of the world.

RI brands itself as Rights and Inclusion, while the legal names is Rehabilitation International and works closely with other disability organizations, actively participating in the International Disability Alliance (IDA), a coalition of the world's largest international organizations of and for people with disabilities, and the International Disability Caucus (IDC), a network of more than 70 disability organizations participating in the negotiations toward the UN Convention.

RI also maintains official relations with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labor Office (ILO), UNESCO, UNICEF, the UN Economic & Social Commission for Asia & the Pacific (UNESCAP), the Organization of American States (OAS), the European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe, among others.

For more information about RI, please visit our newly-re-designed and accessible website: http://www.riglobal.org.