Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Following the Convention coming into force on 3 May 2008, the initial membership of the committee was elected by secret ballot at the first Conference of States' Parties to the convention on 3 November 2008 in New York.{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=210 |title=The Convention in brief: Entry into Force |publisher=UN Enable |access-date=2008-06-28}} The first chair, elected at the first session in February 2009, was Mohammed Al-Tarawneh, who was succeeded in February 2010 by Ron McCallum.{{cite web|url=http://disabilitycouncilinternational.org/CRPD-committee.php|title=CRPD Committee|website=Disability Council International|access-date=27 March 2015|archive-date=14 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150814131729/http://disabilitycouncilinternational.org/CRPD-committee.php|url-status=dead}} The current{{when|date=August 2020}} chair is Rosemary Kayess of Australia, whose term lasts until the end of 2022.

The Committee initially consisted of 12 members, however once the Convention achieved 80 ratifications the Committee expanded to 18 members. Half of members were elected for two-year terms and half elected for four years. Since then, members have been elected for four-year terms, with half the members elected every two years by the Conference of States Parties.{{Cite web|title=Article 34 - Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities {{!}} United Nations Enable|url=https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/article-34-committee-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html#:~:text=1.,2.|access-date=2020-08-28|website=www.un.org}}

The membership of the committee is as follows (as of June 2022):{{cite web|last=Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities|title=Membership of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities|url=https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/Membership.aspx|access-date=10 August 2020|website=Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities|publisher=UN OHCHR}}

The Parties to the convention are to submit periodic reports to the committee. Before the report is due, the Committee provides a List of Issues, created with input from civil society. Often a "shadow report" will be submitted by non-government organizations (NGOs). Ultimately, the Committee agrees on a set of Concluding Observations.

As described in the CRPD's Article 35, parties' reports should describe "measures taken to give effect to its obligations under the ... Convention and ... the progress made in that regard" and may also describe "factors and difficulties" affecting their fulfilment of Convention obligations.{{Cite web|title=Article 35 - Reports by States Parties {{!}} United Nations Enable|url=https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/article-35-reports-by-states-parties.html|access-date=2020-08-28|website=www.un.org}} Similar to the record of other human rights bodies, most reports have been submitted late, some not at all.{{Cite book|title=The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a commentary|others=Bantekas, Ilias,, Stein, Michael Ashley,, Anastasiou, Dēmētrēs|year=2018|isbn=978-0-19-881066-7|edition=First|location=Oxford, United Kingdom|pages=1044|oclc=1041925625}}

In 2013, the Committee issued Simplified Reporting Procedures. The committee's intent was not only to assist states parties, but also to foster interest from and participation by persons with disabilities, national monitoring groups, and human rights organizations.

The committee has issued eight General Comments, intended to offer interpretation of CRPD provisions that will be useful for states in preparing their periodic reports. These are:{{Cite web|author=Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities|title=General Comments|url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/crpd/general-comments|access-date=2023-11-17|website=Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights}}

Two examples of General Comments that attracted experts and organizations' analysis, with areas of agreement and of disagreement were General Comment No. 4 on CRPD Article 24, the right to inclusive education, and General Comment No. 6 on CRPD Article 5, the right to equality and non-discrimination. In the 2016 deliberations, several organizations argued unsuccessfully that a "sensory exception" to inclusive education would not risk perpetuating harmful practices of school segregation.{{Cite journal|last=Byrne|first=Bronagh|date=2019-08-06|title=How inclusive is the right to inclusive education? An assessment of the UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities' concluding observations|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13603116.2019.1651411|journal=International Journal of Inclusive Education|volume=26 |issue=3 |language=en|pages=301–318|doi=10.1080/13603116.2019.1651411|s2cid=201403809 |issn=1360-3116}} In the 2018 deliberations, some experts and organizations debated which kinds of employment policies would most effectively address disability discrimination.Atrey, S., Fredman, S., Campbell, M., Samtani, S., Brickhill, J., & Ramalekana, N. (2017, Nov 30). Achieving Transformative Equality for Persons with Disabilities: Submission to the CRPD Committee for General Comment No.6 on Article 5 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Manuscript submitted for publication. Oxford Human Rights Hub.http://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/publications/sandra-fredman-meghancampbell-shreya-atrey-jason-brickhill-sanya-samtani-and-nomfundoramalenka-achieving-transformative-equality-for-persons-withdisabilities-submission-to-the-committee-o/ Retrieved 30 August 2020.

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• [http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/CRPDIndex.aspx Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities]
• [http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/ConventionRightsPersonsWithDisabilities.aspx Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities]
• [http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/OptionalProtocolRightsPersonsWithDisabilities.aspx Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities]
• [http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/Membership.aspx Members of the Committee]

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Category:United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights