Opening for Signature of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a human rights instrument with an explicit social development dimension, will be open for signature at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 30 March 2007.
The Convention adopted on December 13th 2006, is a comprehensive and far-reaching treaty that potentially affects over 650 million persons with disabilities around the world. It denotes a major change in attitudes and approaches to persons with disabilities from objects of charity, social protection and medical treatment to citizens capable of claiming their rights, making free and informed decisions about their lives and being active members of society.
The formal ceremony at the UN general Assembly hall will commence at 10.00am. Civil society organisations who have had an unprecedented level of involvement in the development of this human rights instrument are expected to be well represented.
Related links
- More information about the formal ceremony for the opening at the UN Headquarters in New York
- United Nations website on the Convention of Rights of Persons with Disabilities