United Nations: First Committee of Experts on Disability Rights Convention Elected

New York, United Nations: On November 3, 2008 the first Conference of States Parties on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) elected the new Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which will be in charge of monitoring the implementation of the CRPD.  The Committee comprises seven men and five women, of which nine are persons with disabilities. The twelve independent Committee members elected are:                                

  • Monsur Ahmed Choudhuri (Bangladesh)  (4-year term)            
  • Amna Ali Al Suweidi (Qatar)  (4-year term)            
  • György Könczei (Hungary)  (2-year term)                
  • Ana Peláez Narváez (Spain)  (4-year term)            
  • Cveto Uršič (Slovenia)  (2-year term)                    
  • Jia Yang (China)  (4-year term)                    
  • Mohamed Al-Tarawneh (Jordan)  (4-year term)        
  • Ron McCallum (Australia)  (2-year term)            
  • Maria Soledad Cisternas Reyes (Chile) (4-year term)        
  • Germán Xavier Torres Correa (Ecuador)  (2-year term)        
  • Lotfi Ben Lallohom (Tunisia)  (2-year term)            
  • Edah Wangechi Maina (Kenya) (2-year term)            

By drawing lots, six Committee members listed above will serve for a two-year mandate, while the other six members have a four-year mandate. 

More details of Committee members:

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crpd/crpds1.htm

http://www.internationaldisabilityalliance.org/forum.htm

William Rowland, Chair of the International Disability Alliance CRPD Forum: “We congratulate the members of the Committee for their election and look forward to very close interaction with the Committee. We encourage all Committee members to support Rules of Procedure for the new Committee that will ensure meaningful participation from representative organisations of persons with disabilities (DPOs) in all stages of their work. The Committee should consider the IDA CRPD Forum not only as the network that represents the key stakeholders of the CRPD, but also as a source of expertise.”

The Committee will hold its first one-week meeting in Geneva in February 2009.  The Conference of States Parties decided to hold its next meet in 2009, which confirms the substantive nature of the Conference.

The IDA CRPD Forum is the network of international and regional organisations of persons with disabilities, which has been established to promote the swift and proper ratification and implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and its Optional Protocol.