China Calls for Adequate Attention to Disability-Related ConcernsA Chinese delegate has called on the United Nations and all states to pay adequate attention to disability-related concerns and to ensure the adoption of an international convention on the rights of persons with disabilities.Speaking Thursday at the 56th session of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, Sun Zhonghua, a representative of the China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF), noted that less and less importance had been attached by the U.N. system and some member states to disability since 1992 when the U.N. Decade of Disabled Persons terminated. He expressed the hope that the momentum of the disabled people's rights movement shaped in the U.N. decade would be maintained and strengthened. Sun said that the CDPF had consistently supported and financed the formulation of the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities and the monitoring of the implementation of the rules. It also highly appreciated the efforts made by the Special Rapporteur and the panel, he added. However, Sun said, the rules were not binding instruments and a comprehensive convention composed of principles would be complement to the rules providing guidelines and yardsticks. "The group of persons with disabilities is the most vulnerable group in all, and the problem of its marginalization is still to be addressed," he said. "The disabled people need a convention to promote and protect their human rights at least as urgently as women and children do." Sun believed that it was about the right time to consider the elaboration of an international convention because leaders of most influential international organizations of persons with disabilities attended the World NGO Summit on Disability in March this year and adopted the Beijing Declaration on the Rights of People with Disabilities in the New Century, through which they strongly urged the U.N. and the members states to adopt the convention. He recalled that in 1999 the Organization of American States adopted a regional convention to battle the discrimination against persons with disabilities. "I have to mention here that during the consultation on a disability-related resolution at the 38th session of the Commission for Social Development last February, the representative of the United States kept opposing the expression requesting the Special Rapporteur to make further explorations to the possibilities of a convention," Sun said. "Besides, he refused to accept the fact that persons with disabilities have special needs or requirements. The ignorance in the disability field and neglect showed by the U.S. government at consultations were really surprising." Sun hoped that all states could listen to the voice of persons with disabilities because their legitimate request deserved a positive response. What was more, the Beijing Declaration on the Rights of People with Disabilities in New Century represented the common desire of one tenth of the total population of the world, he said. |
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