Inclusion International celebrates as 81 States sign the Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities

Representatives of Inclusion International were at the United Nations on March 30^th to participate in and celebrate the official signing ceremony for the new Convention. Click here to see the list of signatories. While the Convention was adopted by the General Assembly in December 2006, the signing ceremony marked the first steps in formalizing the Convention into law. The Convention is especially important to II’s members because it is an instrument that we helped to create. It reflects the issues that people with intellectual disabilities and their families face and provides a framework for promoting human rights and inclusion.

Click here to read 'Self- Advocay says welcome', by Robert Martin

As countries begin the process of ratifying the Convention and developing plans for implementation, Inclusion International encourages its members to ensure that the voices of people with intellectual disabilities are heard. It is important that governments understand that this is Our Convention Too! Without a strong effort to demonstrate why and how this Convention is important to people with intellectual disabilities and their families, there is a risk that it will be interpreted by governments in very limited ways and that measures to address the systemic exclusion faced my our members will not be developed.

We would like to encourage our members to share their experiences of the ratification and implementation processes in their countries by posting their comments on:

Has your organisation been consulted in the governments’ plans for ratification?

Are there outstanding issues that countries must address in order to ratify?

How are people with intellectual disabilities and families being included in the implementation plans?