BackPersons with disabilities and COVID- 19
hosted by the Committee in collaboration with GANHRI
Wednesday | 19 August 2020 | 14.40 - 16.00 hours CET
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) are pleased to invite all National Human Rights Institutions, Independent Monitoring Mechanisms, organizations of persons with disabilities and other civil society organizations, Equality bodies to a meeting on persons with disabilities and COVID-19 to share experiences, practices, challenges and gaps in protecting and promoting the rights of persons with disabilities during the pandemic.
Background and goals
The COVID-19 pandemic, including the measures taken to contain its spread, have disproportionately impacted persons with disabilities, as well as pre-existing actions to protect, promote and monitor their rights. The United Nations’ policy-making and human rights mechanisms have recognised that COVID-19 and containment measures have affected or aggravated the exclusion of persons with disabilities in all areas under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, curtailing their access to basic rights.
In-person sessions of all the human rights treaty bodies, including the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, have been postponed as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. In addition, in-situ strategies and action to promote and monitor the rights of persons with disabilities by national stakeholders have been also hindered.
The 23rd session of the Committee will reconvene through an online modality. The Committee seeks to continue its engagement and interaction with stakeholders, including National Human Rights Institutions, Independent monitoring mechanisms, organizations of persons with disabilities and other civil society organizations monitoring the rights of persons with disabilities. The Committee wishes to hear the experience of stakeholders concerning the practices, challenges, gaps, and/or positive experiences in advocating for and monitoring the rights of persons with disabilities during the pandemic. It also expects to have an overview of the major areas of concern that should be addressed by/ together with the Committee, in order to protect the rights of persons with disabilities during this humanitarian emergency.
Guiding questions/ topics
- How is your organization promoting and/or monitoring the rights of persons with disabilities during the pandemic? Please provide a brief description;
- What have been the main challenges/obstacles in undertaking monitoring and/or promoting the rights of persons with disabilities?
- What have been the good experiences/positive aspects in monitoring and/or promoting the rights of persons with disabilities?
- What are the areas of major concern regarding the impact of COVID-19 on the rights of persons with disabilities are of, based on your monitoring, promotion, or advocacy activities?
- How can synergies be created with the Committee?
Methodology
Moderator: Gives the floor to external partners (5 minutes)
Invitees: Provide information under the scope of the guiding questions (30 minutes);
Committee members: Pose follow-up questions (10 minutes)
Invitees: Respond to questions posed by the Committee and provide conclusions (20 minutes)
Closure of the meeting: Final remarks by Moderator (3 minutes)
Interprefy Link: To be provided by the CRPD Secretariat.
Interpretation: English, Russian and Spanish. International Sign Language and captioning will be provided.
For further assistance, please contact: Catherinne Pedreros
Next steps
The discussion and conclusions of the meeting will inform the Committee’s internal discussion on 26 August, concerning the way forward about its engagement with stakeholders in response to the pandemic and post-pandemic period.
Source: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
