From the 12 to the 14 June 2018, the 11th session of the Conference of States Parties (COSP) to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The overarching theme of this year’s conference was “Leaving no one behind through the full implementation of the CRPD”.
Since the UN General Assembly’s adoption of the CRPD in 2006, an annual conference of States Parties has taken place to discuss key issues linked to the implementation of the Convention, and the importance of upholding the full rights of persons with disabilities. This year marked the 11th session of the conference, and looked in particular at the theme of the CRPD as a tool for a society where nobody is left behind.
The Conference featured roundtable discussions on public-private partnerships and international cooperation for strengthening the implementation of the CRPD, Women and girls with disabilities and Political participation and equal recognition before the law. Throughout these discussions a cross-cutting theme was explored, looking at promoting high-quality disability statistics and disaggregation of data by disability status for the full realisation of the rights of persons with disabilities.
The 11th session of the Conference also saw the election of nine members of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as well as a side event on the theme of participation of persons with disabilities in political and public life. A video of the side event can be viewed in full by clicking here.