- Conference
- 2009 National Disabled Members' Conference
- Date
- 1 July 2009
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes that on 8 June 2009 th UK Government ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This means that the UK is now legally bound by the Convention. The Convention is the first human rights treaty of the 21st Century, re-affirming disabled people’s human rights and signalling a further major step in disabled people’s journey to becoming full and equal citizens.
The Convention is designed to promote, protect and ensure the human rights, freedom and dignity of disabled people. It explicitly sets out the rights that disabled people have and should be able to enjoy on the same basis as other people – for example, the right to dignity, freedom, equality and justice. It also provides direction on how human rights should be interpreted from the perspective of disabled people all over the world.
Conference applauds the ratification of the convention but believes that achieving equality is not just about signing up to conventions; it is about how those conventions are implemented. Conference, therefore, mandates the National Disabled Members’ Committee to work with Labour Link with the aim of influencing the government to close the human rights gulf between disabled and non disabled people.