Chair of UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, leads seminar 'Implementing Article 33 in Northern Ireland'
19 February 2010
Disability Action today welcomed to its headquarters Professor Ron McCallum, newly appointed Chair of UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Professor McCallum led a seminar focused on how the UN Convention on Human Rights for People with Disabilities should be implemented in Northern Ireland.
The seminar, entitled 'Implementing Article 33 in Northern Ireland,' was organised by Disability Action's Centre on Human Rights for People with Disabilities. It was attended by key stakeholders including disabled people, representatives from OFMDFM as well as the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, who have joint responsibility as the independent mechanism for monitoring the implementation of the Convention in Northern Ireland.
This UN Convention directly affects the lives of over 300,000 people in Northern Ireland. Following ratification of the Convention by the Government in August 2009, this event focused thinking on Article 33, which requires an implementation and monitoring framework to be established.
Monica Wilson, Chief Executive of Disability Action stated: "People with disabilities have the same human rights as everyone else but for far too long disabled people have been subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment. It is vital that a strong framework for protecting, promoting, monitoring and implementing the Convention in Northern Ireland is urgently established."
Dr. Colin Harper, Manager of Disability Action's Centre on Human Rights for People with Disabilities added: "Article 33 outlines the role of people with disabilities and their representative organisations in monitoring the implementation of the Convention. So we are proud to host the first event of its kind, bringing key stakeholders together, including the REAL Network to discuss the implementation of the Convention in Northern Ireland."
Professor Ron McCallum commented:
"Although the CRPD Committee has an important role to play, the success of the Convention will depend much more on the manner in which ratifying countries both monitor and implement it. Article 33 requires Government to create structures for these activities at national and devolved levels and these play a crucial role in grounding the CRPD into the policies, laws and customs of both the UK as a whole and within Northern Ireland."
