The first international treaty on rights for people with disabilities has come a step closer following a series of crucial talks at the UN in New York which involved the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC).
Negotiations are now at an advantaged stage on a treaty that could affect the lives of up to 600 million people with disabilities around the world. Several issues, such as the scope for monitoring compliance with the treaty, remain outstanding.
Officials involved in the talks believe many of these obstacles can be overcome during the final session of talks due to take place this August. A final text for the treaty, which has been under negotiation for more than three years, is expected next year.
While the EU expressed its support for a treaty monitoring body, the US, Russia, China and Australia came out against such a mechanism.
The IHRC, which co-ordinated the input of human rights commissions from around the world, outlined detailed proposals on what such a body could do such as providing practical help to countries trying to tackle obstacles to reform.
Prof Gerard Quinn of the IHRC said while many outstanding issues were technical in nature, agreement had yet to be reached on a number of key areas such as legal capacity for disabled people, rules for involuntary treatment and health/ reproductive services.
The EU is due to take part in talks as a full partner next August, raising the possibility that it could be the first human rights treaty adopted by EU as an institution.
President of the IHRC Maurice Manning said he was happy with the impact that combined human rights commissions from around the world had on the talks process.
"The disability treaty will be a milestone and I am proud the commission, through Gerard Quinn and William Binchy, played such a prominent role bringing it about," he said.
Meanwhile, a conference in Dublin heard yesterday that the proportion of people with disabilities in Ireland is set to rise as the overall population profile grows older.
Siobhán Barron of the National Disability Authority told the conference that some 42 per cent of people with disabilities were over 65. As a result, demographic changes in the years ahead will have serious implications for disability policy in Ireland.
"There is a need to rethink ageing, disability and dependency to ensure we respond positively to the challenges they pose for our society," she told the conference, organised in conjunction with the National Council on Ageing and Older People.
