The Irish Human Rights Commission will host an international seminar on the drafting of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on Saturday, 16th April, 2005. The seminar will hear from leading experts on the proposed Convention which represents a major development in the field of human rights for persons with disabilities. The seminar will focus on a key element currently under consideration by the drafters of the Convention, namely what form the ‘enforcement’ or monitoring mechanism should take.
The President of the Commission, Dr. Maurice Manning, stated "The Convention is the single most important development taking place in the field of human rights and disability. However, the Convention and the rights it protects and promotes will only be as good as the enforcement mechanism it provides. The timescale for the adoption of this Convention is expected to be short. It is, therefore, critical the enforcement option adopted is the most effective one. That is why the Commission have decided to make this a priority area in our on-going effort to enhance the rights of persons with disabilities".
A range of Irish stakeholders, including disability rights NGOs, will give a perspective on the relevance of the draft Convention to the domestic process of reform in the disability field. International perspectives on the draft Convention will be presented by eminent speakers from Asia, Latin America and Europe.
The Irish Human Rights Commission is helping to co-ordinate the efforts of the European National Human Rights Institutions on the draft Convention. The Chief Executive of the Irish Human Rights Commission, Dr Alpha Connelly, said "We are very pleased to have representatives from 6 European national human rights institutions in attendance at this seminar. It is our aim to agree a joint position paper on the enforcement mechanism of the Convention and present it to the UN Ad Hoc Committee for consideration at its next meeting in August. Through such co-operation with other interested European Human Rights Commissions we can maximise our contribution to the drafting of the Convention."
The seminar takes place in the McNeill Theatre in the Hamilton Building of Trinity College and is being jointly sponsored by the Irish Human Rights Commission with Trinity College Dublin Law School and the Disability Law & Policy Research Unit of the Faculty of Law at NUI Galway.
Click below to read the notice on this Seminar.
A spokesperson from the Human Rights Commission is available for interview or comment.
Please contact: Mary Ruddy, Senior Human Rights Awareness Officer
Tel. 01-8589601
Mobile: 087 2400695
E-mail: info@ihrc.ie
IHRC, Jervis House, Jervis Street, Dublin 1. www.ihrc.ie
Click here to download the Notice on Disability Conference.doc (191 KB)