General Assembly Session 61 meeting 76

The President

Members will recall that at its 57th plenary meeting, on 22 November 2006, the General Assembly decided that sub-item (b) of agenda item 67 would also be considered directly in plenary meeting for the sole purpose of taking action, during the main part of the sixty-first session, on the draft Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that would be recommended in the report of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities.

In that connection, a note by the Secretary-General transmitting the final report of the Ad Hoc Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities has been circulated in document A/61/611.

The General Assembly has before it a draft resolution recommended by the Ad Hoc Committee in paragraph 7 of its report.

The report of the Fifth Committee on the programme budget implications of the draft resolution is contained in document A/61/623.

Before proceeding further, I would like to inform members that the Braille version of the draft resolution and the draft Convention are available at the documentation booths, located on either side of the back of the General Assembly Hall.

The General Assembly is about to take another important step towards the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all. Today we will adopt, by consensus, the landmark Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

I would like first to thank Don MacKay, Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, and the other members of the Committee for their hard work and dedication.

I would like also to thank the many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and persons with disabilities who have been deeply involved throughout the process. Their participation is greatly appreciated.

As of today, all Member States have committed to promoting and protecting the human rights, freedoms and dignity of all persons with disabilities. We have now reached a global consensus: The disabled are entitled to the full range of civil rights that those without disabilities enjoy. To fully implement this historic agreement, we also require a change in cultural attitudes towards the disabled.

In the past, mainstream society has tended to act out of a culture of pity, rather than embrace and celebrate human differences. Too often, people with disabilities have had to manage their own disability as well as their relative invisibility to society and policymakers. They have tended to be denied equal access to the basic rights and fundamental freedoms that most of us take for granted. That marginalization has been particularly acute for women and children.

There are over 650 million disabled persons in the world. Most live in developing countries. Today we will send a clear message of solidarity to them. By reaffirming the dignity of all humankind, we recognize that all societies stand to benefit from empowering that important community.

The disabled do not see themselves as being limited in life by their circumstances, so neither should we. Going forward, then, we must respect people with disabilities as equals, exercising the same fundamental rights under the law.

The adoption of this Convention is a great opportunity to celebrate the emergence of the comprehensive guidelines the world so urgently needs. It is an opportunity to reaffirm our universal commitment to the rights and dignity of all peoples, without discrimination. The Convention can also provide a much-needed impetus for wider cultural changes in the way that the world perceives disabled people.

I look forward to the full implementation of the Convention by Member States, with the involvement of all concerned parties, in particular NGOs and civil society groups, whose energy, compassion and willingness to work in a spirit of cooperation greatly contributed to the final agreement.

I now give the floor to the Deputy Secretary-General, who will deliver a message from the Secretary-General.

The Deputy Secretary-General

I should like to deliver this message on behalf of the Secretary-General, who regrets that he was unable to be in this Hall today.

We all, I think, recognize what an important event this is -- the day on which the General Assembly adopts the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Obviously, for the 650 million people around the world living with disabilities, today promises, we hope, to be the dawn of a new era in which disabled people will no longer have to endure the discriminatory practices and attitudes that have been permitted to prevail for far too long.

This Convention is a remarkable and forward-looking document. While it focuses on the rights and development of people with disabilities, it also speaks about our societies as a whole and about the need to enable all persons to contribute to the best of their abilities and potential.

Throughout the ages, the treatment of people with disabilities has brought out some of the very worst aspects of human nature. Too often, those living with disabilities have been seen as objects of embarrassment and, at best, of condescending pity and charity. Societies have even gone out of their way to ensure that persons with disabilities are neither seen nor heard. On paper, they may have enjoyed the same rights as others. In real life, they have often been relegated to the margins and denied the opportunities that others take for granted.

It was the community of the disabled themselves that worked tirelessly and insistently to promote this Convention, and the United Nations, I am pleased to say, responded. In three short years, the Convention became a landmark several times over. It was the first human rights treaty to be adopted in the twenty-first century, the most rapidly negotiated human rights treaty in the history of international law, and the first to emerge from lobbying conducted extensively through the Internet.

We have already learned from experience in countries that have implemented legislation related to disability that change comes more rapidly when laws are in place. Once the Convention is adopted, signed and ratified, it will have an impact on national laws that will transform how people with disabilities can live their lives. It will offer a way forward to ensure that those with disabilities enjoy the same human rights as everyone else -- in education, employment, access to buildings and other facilities, and access to justice.

That will not happen overnight. Much work remains to be done to produce the results that aspire from the Convention. I urge all Governments to start by ratifying and then implementing it without delay. Its adoption happens to fall in the Western Christian calendar on the day of Saint Lucy, celebrated in some countries as the patron saint of both blindness and of light. Let us ensure that this day marks a new dawn. Let it usher in an age when all those living with disabilities around the world become fully fledged citizens of their societies.

The President

We shall now proceed to consider the draft resolution recommended by the Ad Hoc Committee in paragraph 7 of its report in document A/61/611.

Before I call on speakers in explanation of vote before the voting, may I remind delegations that explanations of vote are limited to 10 minutes and should be made by delegations from their seats.

Mr. Al Bayati (Iraq)

I have the great pleasure of participating in this meeting to adopt the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We have reached a consensus on adopting that international legal instrument, an important adjunct to international law, and it should be our ongoing concern to ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy the same rights as everyone else.

I take this opportunity, in my capacity as Chairman of the Group of Arab States for December, to speak to the Assembly on behalf of Algeria, Bahrain, the Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, the Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

I also take this opportunity to stress that our ability to join the consensus is based on our interpretation of article 12 of the Convention, in which we recognize the rights of persons with disabilities as equal to those of others, that they have the right to recognition everywhere as persons before the law, and that they enjoy national legal capacity on an equal basis with others in all aspects of life. That reference was included in the Committee's report with the note requested by the Arab States to be distributed as an official document at the eighth session of the Committee. We have learned from the Secretariat that our letter will be distributed in order to reflect our statement on that position.

Mr. Morris (Jamaica)

It is indeed a great pleasure to be here to participate in this very historic occasion. On behalf of the people of Jamaica, I want to really express my profound appreciation to all who have participated in this very historic occasion.

I do so with a great degree of pride as one who stands also to benefit from the implementation of this special Convention, having a disability myself, having found myself in a very precarious position as the Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Security in the Government of Jamaica, and having the responsibility for ensuring the implementation of this very important Convention.

I want to express my profound appreciation and convey my congratulations to those who ensured that the Convention would reach the state at which it stands today. I want to commend the delegation of Mexico for its vision in ensuring that the draft resolution was brought to the General Assembly, and also to thank Ambassador Gallegos, who was the first designated Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee. I recall that three years ago, when Jamaica first started to participate in this very special work, Ambassador Gallegos Chiriboga said that he thought that it would take about five to six years for the Convention to become a reality, based on the history of conventions that have been associated with the United Nations. Today, however, we are here to adopt a Convention in record time. Within three years, we have a Convention to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities.

We also want to express our profound appreciation to Ambassador MacKay for the able way that he presided over the various sessions after the baton was handed to him by Ambassador Gallegos, and to point out that, because of his style and his competence, we have been able to accomplish so much within such a short period. There were times when we thought that we were going to encounter major encumbrances, but Ambassador MacKay, because of his style, was able to negotiate and help us reach the point at which we find ourselves today.

Jamaica implores members of this body to ensure that, following the deliberations that we have had over the past three years and what we have accomplished, we move on to the implementation phase and have the Convention implemented, because it will impact on the 650 million disabled persons living across the world. We stand ready, as a nation State, to ensure that the provisions outlined in the Convention are implemented. As a matter of fact, we are well on our way to ensuring that the provisions of this Convention are fully implemented. We stand ready to cooperate with States and civil society organizations to ensure that the lives of persons with disabilities are improved, not just in Jamaica or in the Caribbean, but throughout the world.

Mr. Capelle (Marshall Islands)

Thank you very much, Madam President, for organizing this meeting and for your very edifying statement. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all delegations and non-governmental organizations that have worked hard to get the United Nations to where we are today. In addition, I want to particularly thank my friend and colleague Ambassador Don MacKay for his wonderful work in chairing the Ad Hoc Committee.

The intent of a treaty is expressed in its preamble, and the Marshall Islands affirms that its support for the draft convention is based on its expression of the conviction that persons with disabilities have "inherent dignity and worth" (A/61/611, annex I) on an equal basis with all other persons. The Marshall Islands understands that article 10 guarantees the "right to life" of disabled persons from the moment of conception and throughout their natural lives until natural death.

The Marshall Islands accepts the phrase "sexual and reproductive health" with the understanding that it does not include abortion and that its use in article 25 (a) does not create any abortion rights, cannot be interpreted to constitute support for or endorsement or promotion of abortion and does not create, and would not constitute, recognition of any new international law, obligations or human rights.

The Marshall Islands is fully committed to protecting the lives of persons with disabilities and understands that article 25 (f) is to be interpreted as ensuring that such persons are not denied medical life-preserving treatment with the intent of ending their lives and that they not be denied food and fluids to preserve life, regardless of the method of administration.

Ms. Halabi (Syria)

The Syrian Arab Republic attaches great importance to the protection and promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities and considers this to be an integral part of our national economic and social development plan. We have established a central ministerial council, comprising ministers and provincial government representatives from all over the country, to closely follow what is being done to protect and promote the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities in all fields and in accordance with Syrian law.

Here, I should like to emphasize that the Syrian Arab Republic participated in the negotiations on the draft convention from the outset with a view to achieving a text that would guarantee the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities, their fundamental freedoms on an equal basis with all others and their protection, in accordance with the International Covenants on Human Rights and other international human rights instruments.

We were able to join in the consensus on the draft international convention on the rights of persons with disabilities based on our interpretation that no provision would contradict our cultural specificities, religion, customs or history, and therefore that the implementation of its protections must take into account those characteristics and that background. My delegation also considers the draft convention to recognize no rights other than those recognized for other persons within the framework of our national legislation and international obligations.

With respect to paragraph 2 of article 12, "Equal recognition before the law", I would like to reaffirm that our interpretation of the term "legal capacity" presupposes the capacity to enjoy rather than to exercise, and that the capacity to exercise is determined by the nature and degree of the disability in question, so as to protect the rights of persons with disabilities as well as the rights of others.

In addition, my delegation was surprised to see the addition of a comma in paragraph (e) of the preamble of the Arabic-language version. In our view, this changes the paragraph's meaning from what was agreed to in the English version. I would like to stress that this comma does not appear in the other language versions and was not in the text when the Ad Hoc Committee adopted it on 5 December. Accordingly, my delegation can join the consensus in favour of the draft convention once the comma has been deleted from the Arabic version.

The President

The Assembly will now take a decision on the draft resolution entitled "Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities", recommended by the Ad Hoc Committee in paragraph 7 of its report (A/61/611). May I take it that the Assembly decides to adopt the draft resolution?

The President

Before giving the floor to speakers in explanation of vote after adoption of the resolution, I would remind delegations that explanations of vote are limited to 10 minutes and should be made by delegations from their seats.

Ms. Negm (Egypt)

The delegation of Egypt went along with the consensus with regard to the international Convention on the understanding that the reference to "sexual and reproductive health services" in article 25 (a) does not by any means entail the authorization of abortion, except in cases where Egyptian national laws permit it.

Mr. Pereyra (Peru)

Allow me first to note that Peru appreciates the leadership and excellent work done by the Chairman of the Special Committee, Ambassador Don MacKay of New Zealand, throughout the negotiating process on the Convention. We would also like to highlight the work of his predecessor, Ambassador Luis Gallegos of Ecuador.

Peru considers the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities to be a tremendous achievement in terms of the development, expansion and deepening of human rights around the world. It is the outcome of the lengthy and fully representative negotiating process in which States and civil society organizations, including associations of persons with disabilities, participated actively.

This process has proven that while there are various positions concerning certain substantive issues in the text of the Convention, the international community is animated by the clear resolve to adopt agreements that guarantee the full exercise, promotion and protection of the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities.

The unrestricted respect for human rights is a State policy and a constituent element of Peru's foreign policy. Measures recently adopted by the Government of Peru in the area of social policy will make it possible to ensure greater exercise of human rights, with special attention to the most vulnerable groups. Thus, Peru welcomes the commendable international effort that has led to the general agreement on the text of the Convention and Optional Protocol that bring us together today.

At the same time, Peru, in keeping with a position expressed in various international forums, would like to place on record the fact that the Peruvian Constitution recognizes the right to life from the moment of conception. Consequently, Peru declares that the programmes and health care, even in the area of sexual and reproductive health mentioned in article 25 (a) of the Convention, will be implemented in terms of the unrestricted respect for life consecrated in our Constitution and laws and that the provisions of the Convention cannot be interpreted as weakening these legal standards.

Finally, the Government of Peru confirms its commitment to implementation of the Convention in the framework of national policies that are consistent with the principles of this Convention, affirming a culture of inclusion whereby persons with disabilities enjoy the same rights as other citizens.

Mrs. Hasteh (Iran)

My delegation would like to express our gratitude, appreciation and satisfaction at the adoption of this very important Convention. We would like to make two points in our explanation of vote, both of which concern my delegation's interpretation of article 12, paragraph 2, of the Convention.

That paragraph refers to the rights of the disabled, which should be recognized fully on an equal basis with others in all aspects of life, but it does not refer to action. Due to the level and degree of disability, the responsibility to act may differ among disabled people.

Secondly, Iran accepts the phrase "sexual and reproductive health" with the understanding that the phrase does not include abortion, and that its use in article 25 (a) does not create any abortion rights and cannot be interpreted as constituting promotion of abortion.