Mondo
Disability: A day to raise awareness
December 3 is the international day for people with disabilities. This year there is much reason to celebrate: it is the year of the coming into force of the convention on rights for all people with disabilities.
di Staff
Civil society the world round is celebrating. Not only is December 3 the international day for people with disabilities – a chance to raise awareness and to look at the challenges ahead as well as the battles won. 2008 is also the year in which the struggle for universal human rights reached an important turning point: the entry into force, on 3 May, of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol. This means that there are now legally binding instruments which set out the legal obligations of States to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities.
“We have much to celebrate this year,” declares UN Enable in a statement on the day. “This progress has been made possible thanks to the active participation and leadership of persons with disabilities,” it continues. However UN Enable also highlights that “the International Day of Persons with Disabilities is a time to make a renewed commitment to the ratification and full implementation of the Convention,” reminding us that: “Legislation alone will not ensure that persons with disabilities can enjoy their human rights. States will need to formulate effective policies and programs that will transform the provisions of the Convention into practices that will have a real impact on the lives of persons with disabilities”.
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