On 2nd October 2007 Maldives signed the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRDP). The Convention embodies institutional changes, and represents an important tool toward altering the perception of disability. It ensures that people with disabilities have equal opportunities without discrimination and with respect of the inherent dignity of every human being.
On Monday evening (28th Jan) OSA held a discussion led by the Human Rights Officer in charge of the Convention at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr Simon Walker. Mr Walker is in the Maldives as part of a sensitisation campaign on human rights and disability co-organised by Handicap International with the collaboration of the Resident Coordinator Office and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The discussion at Dharubaaruge organised for civil society was attended by a sizeable 91 people. This marked an interest in finding out about the Convention and a willingness to create change for persons with disabilities in the Maldives. Questions were varied but the overriding message appeared to be the need for Maldivian society as a whole to work for implementation of the Convention in order to make equal opportunities for persons with disabilities a reality.
What do you believe is the reality of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Maldives? And what can civil society here do to push for such implementation?
4 comments:
I believe we all have a role to play. I feel it is the NGO's like OSA and CARE Society to pressure the relevant authorities to implementation of the Convention. Monitoring can be done by Human rights commission of Maldives and NGO's can do it independently. The disability policy is yet to be final and there is a heavy list of requirements in the CRDP which should also be included in the policy itself to make it a reality. Work at individual level, NGO's, HR bodies, Government and International organizations must be effective to see an effect in the long run. I don't expect implementation to be quick but we all have a role to play to work together in achieving it.
I agree with Yasiph. Although implementing is one thing , what is most important is that measures are taken in order for the implementation to become effective. Maldives has implemented many conventions in the past and nothing fruitful has been done at ground level.
As Yasiph has said OSA and Care society could play a very important role in sensitising the issue of disability. The success can be seen from the photos. I am not sure what was talked about , but i think it is crucial that media gets involved in this process. I wonder how many newspapers covered this.
Way to go. We don't need photo competitions but we need discussions on these matters on a public level.
I agree with most of the comments, but think that a crucial part is missing. Like Yasiph mentions, monitoring can be done by the Human rights commission amongst others. But, in order to monitor effectively one must be provided with information. I think that here lays a huge task, but also a chance for civil society. For organisations like Care Society, definitely, but also for all those who depend on the effective implementation and are not organised and informed yet.
After the Tuesday night session -for persons with disabilities and their families- some interesting dynamics emerged.
When the session was closed, subgroups came together to discuss the way forward. Hopefully these groups will continue to meet and this is a starting point for future DPO’s (Disabled persons organisations). One of their roles could be to monitor the follow up on the implementation of the Convention. A DPO can be organised from the perspective of their respective needs, but also theme wise, like education, accessibility etc.
I believe that the more input is being given from grass roots level and the more interaction between government and civil society takes place, the more likely it is that the Convention will be implemented.
After all signing and ratifying means a huge responsibility for the Maldives. At all levels
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