Date: 16 January - 3 February 2006
Location: New York, USA

The Seventh session of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral
International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity
of Persons with Disabilities will open next week in New York. The aim of the 7th Ad
Hoc Committee meeting is to conclude a draft text of the Convention and submit it to
the General Assembly for its adoption, hopefully at its 61st session.

Indeed, on 10 November 2005, the General Assembly adopted Resolution A/C.3/60/L.28
on the Ad Hoc Committee, stating that the Committee shall hold two sessions in 2006,
prior to the 61st session of the General Assembly: one of fifteen working days from
16 January to 3 February, in order to achieve a complete reading of the draft text
of a Convention prepared by the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee, and one of ten
working days from 7-18 August 2006.

The Ad Hoc Committee was established in December 2001 with the aim of considering
proposals for a Convention to protect and promote the rights and dignity of persons
with disabilities. The resolution also, "invites States, relevant bodies and
organisations of the United Nations system, including relevant human rights treaty
bodies, the regional commissions, the Special Rapporteur on disability of the
Commission for Social Development, as well as intergovernmental and non-governmental
organisations with an interest in the matter to make contributions to the work
entrusted to the Ad Hoc Committee."

The Ad Hoc Committee of the General Assembly held its first session in July 2002. It
mainly focused on procedural issues. At the second session, in June 2003, the
Committee recommended to the General Assembly that a Convention be elaborated, and
established a Working Group to prepare a draft text which would be the basis for
negotiation in the next sessions. The Committee started its negotiation on a draft
Convention at its Third Session in May 2004.

During the Sixth Session in August 2005, Don MacKay, Chairman of the Ad Hoc
Committee, said he hoped the final text would be ready in a year. 2008 had been
mentioned as the year when the Convention might go into effect, but that would
depend on how many ratifications were obtained.

Furthermore, he explained that everyone agreed that women and children with
disabilities should be given emphasis in the Convention, but there was still a
question of how to deal with gender issues structurally. There were also concerns
about elderly and rural people with disabilities. While some delegations were
reluctant to compartmentalise and identify particular groups, there was no question
that women and children would be separately identified. Whether it would be in a
specific article remained a question, however.

Among the most contentious issues, he identified institutionalisation, integrated
education and issues relating to family. For instance, there was increasing
acceptance that there should be no forced institutionalisation, but how to address
that question in the Convention remained a difficult issue. Some States believed
that in some cases, they should have the right to institutionalise people, or
establish guardians for persons with some types of disabilities.[Source: CRIN]

For more information on the Seventh session of the Ad Hoc Committee, and to access
related documents, visit:
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahc7.htm

For background information on the Ad Hoc Committee, go to:
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/adhoccom.htm

To read reports of previous sessions, go to:
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahc7documents.htm

To read CRINMAIL 711: Special Edition on the Drafting of a Disability Convention, go
to:
http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?ID=6280&flag='news'