CRPD – Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 20 Session. Geneva, Switzerland

The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities opens its 20^thsession  on August 27 during which it will review Algeria, Bulgaria, Malta, Philippines, Poland, South Africa and the FYR of Macedonia. It will also initiate the second cycle of review under the simplified reporting procedure by adopting list of issues prior to reporting on Austria, Azerbaijan, Germany, Mongolia and Sweden.

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee) is the body of independent experts which monitors implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) by the States Parties.  All States Parties are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee on how the rights of persons with disabilities are being implemented.  The Committee examines each report, holds an interactive dialogue with the State delegation in a public session and makes recommendations on the steps which should be taken to improve CRPD implementation. 

During this session, the Committee will review Algeria, Bulgaria, Malta, Philippines, Poland, South Africa and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; and it will also initiate the second cycle of review under the simplified reporting procedure by adopting list of issues prior to reporting on Austria, Azerbaijan, Germany, Mongolia and Sweden; as well as adopting list of issues on the initial report of Iraq.

The Committee also plans to make advances with the draft General Comment no. 7on Articles 4.3 and 33.3. In this sense, taking into account that the Day of General Discussion was held in June 11^thin New York during the Civil Society Forum to the Conference of States Parties, the Committee will host two public events to give civil society the opportunity to raise comments on the draft general comment no. 7(version of May this year). These events will take place on August 27 and 5 September from 3 pm to 4 pm.

On August 31th, the CRPD Committee will host a celebration of the 10th years of activities of the Committee. Key partners and stay holders will be present to join the celebration and share their insights on the past decade and on the challenges laying ahead.

On September 13^th,  the CRPD Committee will host a Celebration of the International Day of Sign Languages, with the active participation of IDA´s member the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD). See more in WFD Website.

This 20th session  immediately will be followed the CRPD Committee’s 10^th pre-session which took place from 24 to 27 September 2017 during which it will adopt the list of issues on Niger, Norway, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Turkey and Vanuatu.

All States reports and public written contributions by organizations of persons with disabilities, and other documents relevant to States review processes are available at the website of the Committee on its 20^th sessionand on its 10^th pre-session.

Programme of Work 

The public sessions of the CRPD Committee, including State party reviews of Algeria, Bulgaria, Malta, Philippines, Poland, South Africa and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, will be webcast live by the United Nations Office of Geneva on UNTV .

Webcast will be provided in ENGLISH, International Sign, National Sign language and national language of the countries (ensured when language is a UN language).. 

If audio is provided on a national language of a country which is not a UN language, it will be done so under the label “ORIGINAL” in the UN WebTV site.