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EHRC asks for disabled people’s input on list of key disability issues for UN

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published a questionnaire on to get disabled people’s views on the priority disability issues that need to be reported to the United Nations in their examination of the rights of disabled people. Deadline for the input to the Commission is 10 November 2013. 

The questionnaire, for disabled people and disabled people’s user-led organisations in England and Wales, is part of the Commission’s ongoing work on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Respondents are asked to pick from a list of ten priority problem areas that have been highlighted to the Commission by disabled people and disabled people's organisations such as transport, barriers to getting into work and poor access to justice.

This information will be used to produce a submission on the list of issues for the United Nations Disability Committee to consider when it scrutinises the extent to which the UK Government is implementing the rights of disabled people under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2015.

Ian Acheson, Chief Operating Officer at the Equality and Human Commission, said:

This questionnaire gives disabled people an opportunity to tell us about the problems they are facing and to influence how they are communicated to the United Nations. Protecting and promoting disabled people’s rights remains a priority for the Commission and we will continue to work with them to meet the needs and concerns of all disabled people.

The questionnaire can be found here 

 

It will be available until February 2014 however, the Commission would like to receive as many responses as possible by 10 November to inform the next stage of the process.

The Commission has already held involvement and capacity building events with disabled people across England, Wales and Scotland. The priority areas listed in the questionnaire are based on their experiences of the extent to which the rights under the Convention are working in practice.

In Scotland, the Equality and Human Rights Commission works jointly with the Scottish Human Rights Commission to promote, protect and monitor implementation of the UN Disability Convention. There is a programme of joint work in Scotland to capture the views and experiences of disabled people that will be reflected in the Commissions’ work monitoring implementation of the Convention.

Find out more about the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities here

The Commission is a statutory body established under the Equality Act 2006 and acts as the independent regulator of equality and human rights in Britain. It aims to reduce inequality, eliminate discrimination, strengthen good relations between people, and promote and protect human rights. The Commission enforces equality legislation on age, disability, gender, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation or transgender status, and encourages compliance with the Human Rights Act. It also provides advice and guidance to organisations across the public and private sectors.