The UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities visits Canada

Photo from CPAC video
 

Catalina Devandas Aguilar, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, made her first official visit to Canada, from April 2 to 12, 2019. She is an independent expert who reports to the United Nations Human Rights Council and the General Assembly, and advises on progress, opportunities and challenges encountered in the implementation of the rights of persons with disabilities worldwide. These rights are established in the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Currently, the CRPD has been ratified by 177 countries, including Canada.

Ms Devandas Aguilar was invited by the Government of Canada and visited 5 cities across Canada looking at themes related to the articles of the CRPD. She met with representatives of the federal and 5 provincial governments, and of civil society and disabled persons organizations. She released an End of Mission Statement and will submit a report with recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council.

Conclusions of the Special Rapporteur

“As a highly-developed nation, Canada still lags behind in the implementation of its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. There are significant shortcomings in the way the federal, provincial and territorial governments of Canada respect, protect and fulfill the rights of persons with disabilities. Notwithstanding, the country has the potential to undertake a major transformation and fully embrace the human rights based approach to disability introduced by the Convention. The various pilot initiatives and good practices in place could, if adequately scaled up, promote systemic change for persons with disabilities in Canada.

The commitment of Canada to the implementation of the SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals] represents a great opportunity for the implementation of the rights of persons with disabilities, provided that all policy responses at federal, provincial and territorial level are framed in light of the high standards of the CRPD.”