Today at UN Headquarters in the General Assembly plenary room, the UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional
Protocol were formally opened for signature, marking the first opportunity
for States to become signatures and start the process to become States
Parties.
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional
Protocol were formally opened for signature, marking the first opportunity
for States to become signatures and start the process to become States
Parties.
DPI Disability Convention Daily Update - Opening for signature of the UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
March 30, 2007
-----------------------------
UN Headquarters, New York, NY
Today at UN Headquarters in the General Assembly plenary room, the UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional
Protocol were formally opened for signature, marking the first opportunity
for States to become signatures and start the process to become States
Parties.
The session began at 10am, and after initial statements by the President of
the General Assembly, the Deputy Secretary General, the High Commissioner
for Human Rights, countries who had played a leadership role in the
Convention negotiations process (Mexico, Ecuador and New Zealand), and a
representative of IDA and IDC, the official signing ceremony began.
It was previously predicted that approximately 45 States would sign today,
but this number was more than exceeded! 81 States and the European
Commission signed the Convention and 43 States signed the Optional Protocol.
All those signing today are considered the "first" to sign. The UN Office of
Legal Affairs noted that this represented the highest number of States ever
to sign a human rights treaty on its opening for signature. Jamaica also
deposited its instrument of ratification, making it the first country to
become a States Party to the Convention. The list of those signing today is
provided below.
The afternoon session involved a high level dialogue ""From vision to
action: the road to implementation of the Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities." The dialogue was opened by statements by
Ambassador Don MacKay of New Zealand and the High Commissioner for Human
Rights, Louise Arbour. There then followed statements by numerous Member
States, a representative of National Human Rights Institutions, as well as
DPI Chair Venus Ilagan (speaking on behalf of the IDC). She noted in her
remarks that the "rights-based" approach to disability at the core of the
Convention is a basic shift in the way that disability is viewed globally.
She said "we people with disabilities have very high hopes and expectations
for the success of the convention in the future." (A full copy of the speech
is posted on the DPI website, a link to which is at the bottom of this
bulletin.)
The ceremony today marked the first opportunity for States to start the
process to become States Parties to the Convention. It is hoped that many
more States will sign soon, and that those signing today will follow
Jamaica's lead and ratify as soon as possible!
The following is a list of those who participated in the signing ceremony,
provided in the order in which they participated.
Republic of Austria
Republic of Chile
Republic of Croatia
Kingdom of Denmark
Republic of Ecuador
Republic of El Salvador
Gabon
Republic of Indonesia
Italian Republic
Jamaica (also deposited its instrument of ratification for the Convention)
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Republic of Lithuania
New Zealand
Federal Republic of Nigeria
Republic of Panama
Republic of Poland
Portuguese Republic
Republic of Korea
Republic of Slovenia
Republic of South Africa
Kingdom of Spain
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Kingdom of Sweden
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentine Republic
Republic of Armenia
Australia
Kingdom of Belgium
Federated Republic of Brazil
Canada
Republic of Cape Verde
People's Republic of China
Republic of Colombia
Republic of the Congo
Republic of Costa Rica
Republic of Cyprus
Czech Republic
Commonwealth of Dominica
Dominican Republic
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Republic of Finland
French Republic
Federal Republic of Germany
Republic of Ghana
Hellenic Republic (Greece)
Republic of Guatemala
Republic of Honduras
Republic of Hungary
Republic of Iceland
Republic of India
Ireland
State of Israel
Republic of Kenya
Republic of Liberia
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Republic of Malta
United Mexican States
Republic of Moldova
Kingdom of Morocco
Kingdom of the Netherlands
Republic of Nicaragua
Republic of Niger
Kingdom of Norway
Republic of Paraguay
Republic of Peru
Republic of San Marino
Republic of Seychelles
Republic of Sierra Leone
Republic of the Sudan
Republic of Surinam
Syrian Arab Republic
Kingdom of Thailand
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Tunisia
Republic of Turkey
Republic of Uganda
United Republic of Tanzania
Republic of Yemen
European Commission
Copyright DPI 2007. DPI welcomes colleagues from other organizations to
distribute the DPI Disability Convention Daily Updates through their own
networks, but ask that in doing so you please: (1) provide clear attribution
to DPI; (2) not change the content of the Updates in any way; and (3)
clearly include a link to
http://www.dpi.org. Thank you. See following links:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6507903.stm UN Convention Signing Webcast & list of countries signing and ratifying.
See Webcast at
http://www.un.org/webcast/2007.html (scroll down to Special Event.)
I notice that USA have not signed... Why? This is so hypocritical of the
USA. Can ayone tell me then why is the UN Head Office is in New York, when
with most UN Treaties the USA don't sign them and 'exclude' themselves for
International legal due process!!!
The USA didn't sign the UN Rights of a Child treaty !!
