OLD-SCHOOL WHEELING- UN TO GRANT GREATER RIGHTS AND ACCESS FOR DISABLED

I wrote this article for The Phoenix on September 1, 2006...

UN to Grant Greater Rights and Access for Disabled The United Nations will soon pass a treaty which will give greater rights and access to disabled people all over the world. This new treaty will be a significant improvement in treatment of disabled individuals. It will be the first human rights bill of the 21st century

. It is estimated that approximately 650 million people worldwide have some sort of disability. That is about 10% of the total world population; however, this number is projected to rise in the years to come, due to advances in medical treatment and the continuing aging process.

 The upcoming treaty is important because currently only 45 countries have specific legislation that protects the disabled. For instance, in developing countries, 90% of disabled children do not go to school.

 The United States is far ahead of the rest of the world regarding disabled rights, with the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act in the early 1990s. Still, the U.S. is expected to sign the new treaty.

 Change of attitude, granting equal status to the disabled, is a key ingredient in the new legislation. Combating negative stereotypes and prejudices, along with promoting an awareness of abilities - rather than disabilities - and contributions to society are also important elements to the new treaty.

 Along with attitude changes, the basic rights of better accessibility to buildings, better transportation, and more information and improved communication are also main ingredients of the bill.

 The following is a quick guide to the draft United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:

 • Participating countries to change laws and ban discriminatory customs and practices. • Disabled people to have an equal right to life. • Protection for children with disabilities.
 • Equal rights for disabled women and girls. • A right to own and inherit property, to control financial affairs and have equal access to financial services.
 • Disabled people not to be deprived of their liberty “unlawfully or arbitrarily.”
 • Medical or scientific experiments without consent to be banned.
• An end to enforced institutionalization. • Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse.
 • A right to privacy and access to medical records.
 • Countries to remove barriers to accessing the environment, transport, public facilities and communication.
• A right to independent living.
 • Essential equipment to be made affordable.
 • A right to an adequate standard of living and social protection.
• An end to discrimination relating to marriage, family and personal relationships.
 • Equal access to education.
• An end to discrimination in the job market.
 • A right to equal participation in public life.
 • A right to participate in cultural life.
• Developing countries to be assisted to put the convention into practice.

 Many of the above goals seem so simplistic, one wonders why they need to be reinforced. Yet much of the world lacks the basic rights which Americans who have a disability enjoy, basic rights which everyone - disabled or not - are entitled to.

 The treaty is expected to be ratified sometime in September. One step closer to the entire world, regardless of disability, living as one.