The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) contains an important innovation in Article 33, which requires states to establish national mechanisms to implement, to coordinate and to monitor progress in achieving the aims of the Convention. It is the first UN human rights treaty to contain a requirement for the establishment of a monitoring mechanism in the text of the treaty itself, as opposed to in an additional Optional Protocol. This has been described as a key innovation with the potential to transform the ‘majestic generalities’ of the Convention into concrete reform at the domestic level.1 Central to the inclusion of this innovation in Article 33 was the concerted effort of people with disabilities, their representative organisations, and National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in the negotiation of the Convention.