As I'm sure many of you already know the new United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will now come into force as there are 20 countries who have ratified the treaty.
This in fantastic news, but we are disappointed that the UK Govt was not one of the first group of countries to ratify the UNCRPD particularly as the UK did much of the work in getting the UNCRPD agreed back in December 2006 and was one of the first to sign up to the treaty in March 2007.
Anne McGuire, Minister for Disabled People has said that she is hopeful that the UK Govt will ratify by the end of 2008 but, there are growing fears that ratification will not be without reservations. This means that the Govt could opt out of a number of Articles - such as Art 24 on Inclusive Education, Art 12 on legal capacity, Art 14 on liberty, Art 25 on access to healthcare.
The UK Govt cannot pick and choose which of our rights to recognise - the Govt must recognise our rights, as disabled people, to live our lives with dignity, freedom and with equality. So a coalition of organisations of disabled people, allied organisations and individuals has come together to lobby the Govt to ratify the UNCRPD fully.
The UN Convention Campaign Coalition has set up a
" Ratification without Reservation " petition on the No. 10 website. Please log on and sign it and encourage your networks to do the same.http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/noreservations/