The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) calls for persons with disabilities and their representative organisations to join them for a series of seven online regional consultation conferences on deinstitutionalisation over the course of 2021. On 25 February, consultations will take place with organisations from Eastern European countries outside of the European Union.
The CRPD has launched these consultations conferences in light of the increase in practices of forced institutionalization and isolation of people with disabilities as well as their loss of income and social protection benefits due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These practices have affected many people with disabilities across the globe, especially persons with intellectual disabilities, persons with psychosocial disabilities, and children, older persons and women with disabilities.
The CRPD gives persons with disabilities including those who are particularly marginalised and in institutions, the opportunity to voice their experiences, opinions, and proposals on how to address the current situation, which has exacerbated inequalities, and pushed them into isolation and risk of institutionalization. Based on the conferences, Guidelines on Deinstitutionalization, including in emergency situations, will be drafted by the CRPD.
The upcoming CRPD online regional consultation conference taking place on 25 February 2021 is open to persons with disabilities from Eastern European countries outside of the EU and Central Asian countries and their representative organisations including but not limited to: organizations of children and young persons with disabilities, self-advocacy organisations, organisations of persons with intellectual disabilities, of persons with psychosocial disabilities, and organizations of women with disabilities. Other entities may attend as observers.
All those interested in attending that conference can find information on how to register below. (Note: The date for the consultation with people with disabilities and their representative organisations from EU countries and other Western European countries will be announced at a later stage.)
How to register
To join the conference, the CRPD invites persons with disabilities and their representative organisations to send an email by Friday 12 February 2021 to crpd@ohchr.org putting regional consultations Central Asia Eastern Europe into the subject line. The email has to state the full name of the person of the organization that will speak at the online conference, the name of that organization and the country and/or region where that organization is based. The statement to be delivered during the conference in English or Russian must also be attached to that email.
Each consultation in the series will last 90 minutes and will be moderated by a CRPD member, live captioned and interpreted into English, Russian and International Sign. Each speaker has 4 minutes, or 8 minutes when representing local, national, regional or international coalitions of organizations of persons with disabilities. CRPD members may raise additional questions to the participants once they are finished speaking.
In case an organisation cannot participate online, alternative ways to provide information to the CRPD include a written statement, a video message or voice recording sent via email. The consultations are closed to participants who receive accreditation and contributions are kept confidential.