Back"Austria has committed itself to implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD). However, neither the federal government nor the federal states are fulfilling this obligation," says Ombudsman Bernhard Achitz on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December: "Even though it is the federal government that has signed the UN CRPD, it also applies to the federal states, who are primarily responsible for the affairs of people with disabilities."
Rights instead of charity
"People with disabilities need rights, not charity," says Achitz: "The aim of the UN CRPD is to give people with disabilities equal access to a self-determined life and inclusion. Inclusion means that, as far as possible, they can live as self-determined a life as other people." In 2023, the responsible expert committee identified numerous shortcomings on the part of Austria as part of the UN CRPD state review and recommended various measures to achieve the status required under international law. Achitz: "People with disabilities have a right to have these measures implemented as quickly as possible. The state review has made it even clearer that general commitments to human rights are not enough for people with disabilities."
The Austrian Ombudsman Board is constantly confronted with Austria's violations of the UN CRPD. On the one hand, it is involved in scrutinising the administration, i.e. when affected people turn to the Ombudsman Board because, for example, they are not being provided with urgently needed aids, such as power wheelchairs, or services such as personal assistance.
On the other hand, the Ombudsman Board and its commissions are responsible for preventive human rights monitoring, including unannounced visits to residential facilities for people with disabilities. Their constitutional mandate as the "National Preventive Mechanism" (NPM) is based, among other things, on the UN CRPD.
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Source: Austrian Ombudsman Board
