We, the 430 million Disabled People/People with Disabilities in the Commonwealth declare it is time to end discrimination, protect and promote our dignity and equal rights!
All but one of the Commonwealth countries have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). The implementation is legally binding upon these Governments.
Yet our members across the Commonwealth tell us that the UNCRPD is more honoured in the breech than in the implementation.
Now 18 years after the UNCRPD came into being and 10 years since the Sustainable Development Goals SDGs, we need a big push to implement them both across all Commonwealth countries and at the Commonwealth Secretariat.
It is for these reasons, the CDPF has been approaching Governments to get their support for a Commonwealth Disability Inclusion Action Plan at this CHOGM.
There are reservations from some, based largely on funding. Funding is not the main barrier. It is attitudes and the way they structure society.
We have produced a broadsheet, found below, that outlines our demands. The Commonwealth Disabled Youth Forum has also produced a leaflet addressing the Youth Council Declaration.
Further to this, we will present two events during the meeting. See details below.
Special Newsletter for CHOGM
Broadsheet
Read our broadsheet to all delegates here:
Statement from the Commonwealth Disabled Youth Forum on the Commonwealth Youth Council Declaration
Double Whammy: Disabled People and the Climate Crisis
Disabled People, Climate Emergencies in the Commonwealth
Delegate-led session:
Monday 21st October
2.00 to 2.45pm
Main Hall
Sarah Kamau Chair CDPF, Kenya
Dr Richard Rieser OBE, CDPF General Secretary UK
Jodie Santos Disability Justice Project the Film Maker (3 min)
Film ‘Rising Tides Rising Voices’ audio described and captioned (18 mins)
Faatino Utumapu, CDPF Executive, Nuanua O Le Alofa, Samoa
Sovaia Sisi Coalala, Pacific Disability Forum
Around the world, wherever there are climate emergencies, Disabled People are more than doubly impacted, due to the current barriers they face. We are less likely to be formally employed, our livelihoods depend on fishing and farming, which have been significantly affected by climate change. During disasters, the structural barriers that Pacific Islanders with disabilities face every day – like the lack of accessible information and transportation – can become a death sentence. Faced with the urgency of increasing disasters, disabled grassroots activists across the Pacific are championing disability-inclusive climate action. It’s a fight not just against nature, but against a world that often overlooks people with disabilities. https://disabilityjusticeproject.org/
Commonwealth Disabled People’s Forum is campaigning hard for all our countries to implement the rights they have signed up to for disabled people. Not least UNCRPD Article 11:
“All necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including situations of armed conflict”
Let’s Make the Rights Real
Contact: Richard Rieser rlrieser@gmail.com
Developing Disability Inclusion and Equality across the Commonwealth : Commonwealth Disabled People’s Forum
Side meeting
Wednesday 23 October, 1pm – 2:30pm Law Court TC 1
The meeting will highlight the need for a paradigm shift in implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities across the Commonwealth. It emphasises moving from a medical/charity model to a social, rights-based approach in areas such as education, work, climate, health, law, and political participation. Speakers will discuss how this shift promotes solutions that engage the whole community to ensure no-one is left behind. The meeting will relate to all CHOGM themes, focusing on human rights, climate resilience, economic inclusion, and societal empowerment, urging support for the Disability Inclusion Action Plan as a key transformative tool.
Chair Sarah Kamau Chair CDPF , United Disabled Persons Kenya
Speakers:
Dr. Richard Rieser OBE, General Secretary Commonwealth Disabled People’s Forum, UK
Dr Sruti Mohapatra, Vice Chair CDPF, CEO Swabhiman, Odisha, India
Hon. Priyanca Radhakrishnan MP, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Former Minister for Disability Issues in New Zealand and is the current Disability Spokesperson for the New Zealand Labour Party
Rhoda Garland Commissioner, Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Malta
Kihembo Wilbert, CDPF Youth Representative, Voice of Youth Uganda
Faatino Utumapu, CDPF Executive, Nuanua O Le Alofa, Samoa
Saista Parwin, CDPF Executive Disabled Youth, India
Invited Prof Luis Franceschi, Com. Sec. Deputy Secretary
Other Speakers and Discussion on the way forward
Contact person and e-mail: Richard Rieser, General Secretary CDPF rlrieser@gmail.com