UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities gets close to needed ratifications

As of March 26, 17 countries have passed ratifications of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which means that only three more ratifications are needed for it to enter into force. The Optional Protocol has now received 11 ratifications. It will therefore enter into force at the same time as the Convention. Currently, there are 126 signatories to the Convention and 71 signatories to the Optional Protocol.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international treaty that identifies the rights of persons with disabilities, as well as the obligations on countries to the Convention to promote, protect and ensure those rights.

The UN says, "the Convention is necessary in order to have a clear reaffirmation that the rights of persons with disabilities are human rights and to strengthen respect for these rights. Although existing human rights conventions offer considerable potential to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities, it became clear that this potential was not being tapped. Indeed, persons with disabilities continued being denied their human rights and were kept on the margins of society in all parts of the world. This continued discrimination against persons with disabilities highlighted the need to adopt a legally binding instrument which set out the legal obligations on States to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities."

The Convention is unique because it is "the first human rights convention of the 21st century and the first legally binding instrument with comprehensive protection of the rights of persons with disabilities," according to the UN.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on December 13, 2006 and it was opened for signature on March 30, 2007. Countries that ratify the Convention are legally bound to respect the standards in the Convention. For other countries, the Convention represents an international standard that they should try to respect.