People with Disabilities in Ireland
4th Floor Jervis House
Jervis Street
Dublin 1
Telephone: 01 87 21 74 4
Fax: 01 87 21 77 1
Email: info@pwdi.ie
The primary discussions and business of EDF this year so far have centred on the UN Convention about which you will have read earlier.
As Finland currently holds the EU Presidency, its Government delegation conducted the consultations on behalf of EU Member States. EDF and a number of other organisations, including PwDI, were party to the discussions and consultations.
It is clear that the work on the Convention is not over but will become more intense as the Convention moves towards adoption.
The UN is expected to formally ratify the Convention by the end of this year.
Each country will then sign up to it. It is to be hoped that Ireland will do so without reservations.
Implementation and monitoring of the Convention will form the next phase.
It is important to realise that the main follow up will have to happen at national level. Only disability organisations in each country will be able to evaluate and contribute effectively to this process.
EDF’s role will be mainly to provide information on the process and on interpretation, in co-operation with the International Disability Caucus (IDC), which represents a very diverse range of organisations in the disability sector internationally. EDF’s role will also include facilitating the flow of information among members and the exchange of information about good practices. Furthermore, EDF could coordinate action that is likely to produce a stronger impact at European level.
The organisation is currently active in addressing final outstanding issues through the drafting committee and will also follow each step until adoption by the General Assembly.
It is likely that the European Commission will propose that EU Member States and candidate countries sign the Convention at the same time. This should speed up the ratification process.
EDF will also be involved in raising awareness of the Convention and of the rights contained within it, among European decision-makers, as well as its members. We will be advocating for actions to be led by the EU in this respect.
We are keen to see a legal analysis of the text to create clarity in view of implementation at national level.
We will also give guidance to support EDF members’ participation in the national monitoring committees and for the nomination-election process of the International monitoring committee. We want to ensure a strong participation of human rights lawyers with disabilities.
We will also be evaluating the possibilities for regional monitoring.
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