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7th Ad Hoc Meeting on the Convention for Persons with a Disability
[Last updated Thursday, January 19, 2006]
The main items discussed were:
Meeting with Chairman Mackay
A meeting with Chairman Mackay and representative from the IDC was held in New York prior to the start of the 7th Session. The Chair gave his appreciation for the work done by the IDC in reviewing the Chair’s Text. The IDC proposed amendments for each article will be made available to all participants before each article is discussed. He plans to discuss all the articles this session and a new text will be produced to reflect these discussions. This text, called a Running Text, will be able to be amended further as required.
Intercessional Activities
Since the last meeting the Chair’s Text has been reviewed. Convenors were appointed for each article and Working Groups were then established. The amendments recommended by each of the Working Groups were then used to produce an IDC amended text with explanatory notes. It was noted that the Chair’s Text is still to be discussed by the States Parties.
Newcomers
The needs of those who are attending for the first time were discussed. Newcomers will be able to meet each day with some experienced IDC members to talk about what is happening and to discuss any concerns.
Project South
The Project South Group reported on their recent meeting. The Group spoke on the link between poverty and disability. They stressed the need for the Convention to cover the issue of social and economic development and international cooperation. Other speakers raised issues such as the lack of representation from the South and the poverty faced by most people.
Luis Fernando
Luis who has been a regular participant was refused entry into the United States even though he had a Visa. The reason for this action is still not clear. He was held by United States Officials for 18 hours before being sent home.
The meeting discussed what actions could be taken. Luis has sent a letter explaining what happened but his letter needs to be translated. A small group was set up to coordinate the action to be taken.
The IDC Value Statement
A paper setting out the vision, values and how the IDC works was presented. The need to ensure everyone is included and the need for cohesion and a unified voice was raised.
The IDC Strategy
To enable all the articles to be discussed only two hours have been allocated for the discussion on each article. The IDC represents 59 disability organisations (who are mostly Disabled Persons Organisations) and therefore represents the key stakeholders.
The meeting discussed how we will work together over the next three weeks. The constraints of time, the volume of work and the need to listen to concerns from newcomers were raised. The importance of knowing our “bottom lines” and how proposed changes to the text will be agreed was also discussed.
Coordinators have been appointed for each Article and they will be assisted by those who wish to be part of Working Group.
There was support for a daily news page that would give a summary of each day and the important issues. The possibility of this being made available electronically so it can be sent to those not attending the meeting. This is to be discussed further by the steering group on Monday.
Other Issues
There are some additional items that are important for some groups that need to be considered for inclusion in the Text.
Gender mainstreaming has not been done well in the draft IDC revised Chair’s Text and therefore needs some more work.
Inclusion International raised the issue of including families in the Convention and asked those who are interested in the discussion to help form a position.
Meeting with Chairman Mackay
A meeting will be held with Chairman Mackay on Monday.
Topics to be raised include indigenous people, the use of Braille in the convention and the amount of support there is for the Chair’s Text from governments.
Other topics include the place of women and children in the Convention, international cooperation, the plan for the future and how the Convention will be implemented once it has been ratified.
Prepared by Robert Martin
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