CSR : Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
The Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol was adopted
on 13 December 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters
in New York, and was opened for signature on 30 March
2007. There were 82 signatories to the Convention, 44
signatories to the Optional Protocol, and 1 ratification
of the Convention. This is the highest number of signatories
in history to a UN Convention on its opening day. It
is the first comprehensive human rights treaty of the
21st century and is the first human rights convention
to be open for signature by regional integration organizations.
The Convention entered into force on 3May 2008.
The Convention marks a "paradigm shift" in attitudes
and approaches to persons with disabilities. It takes
to a new height the movement from viewing persons with
disabilities as "objects" of charity, medical treatment
and social protection towards viewing persons with disabilities
as "subjects" with rights, who are capable of claiming
those rights and making decisions for their lives based
on their free and informed consent as well as being
active members of society.
The Convention is intended as a human rights instrument
with an explicit, social development dimension. It adopts
a broad categorization of persons with disabilities
and reaffirms that all persons with all types of disabilities
must enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
It clarifies and qualifies how all categories of rights
apply to persons with disabilities and identifies areas
where adaptations have to be made for persons with disabilities
to effectively exercise their rights and areas where
their rights have been violated, and where protection
of rights must be reinforced.
The Convention was negotiated during eight sessions
of an Ad Hoc Committee of the General Assembly from
2002 to 2006, making it the fastest negotiated human
rights treaty.
Read the complete text of the Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:
Property Rights & Tenure Security
Access to land defines the existence of many poor people.
Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
recognizes property rights as a fundamental human right.
Yet the absence or insecurity of property rights remains
a central cause of poverty, especially in the very poorest
countries. The focus on property rights, as envisaged
in the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor report,
on the one hand seeks to expand the legal protection
of assets of the poor and on the other, promote the
access to property by the poor.
The lack of access to land and other natural resources
is often a major source of disenfranchisement particularly
for women and other vulnerable groups. The number of
women who own property, for example, is a fraction of
the same number for men, a problem often perpetuated
by laws and customary arrangements that clearly favour
men. Many indigenous populations around the world also
face the threat of disenfranchisement because of loosely
defined property rights which are often not adequately
recognized by law.
Property rights help to establish clear ties of rights,
obligations, responsibilities and recognition in a community.
They are often the basis on which people establish their
legal identity, exercise voting rights or access basic
services like electricity. These basic opportunities
can be a powerful means to climb out of poverty.
A fully functional and equitable property rights system
- with effective regulation and oversight by the State
authorities - can ensure that assets can be legally
transferred from one person to another and can help
people to access a loan to start a small business or
purchase a home. At the same time, poor people must
be protected by the law so that they can own, use and
dispose of their property as they see fit.
Read More
Rights to Livelihood & Entrepreneurship
Micro-entrepreneurs, small business owners,
vendors and others who are selfemployed – operating
at varying degrees in the informal economy and outside
of formal legal regulation and protection, lacking adequate
access to the advantages of formal business and financial
support systems – contribute significantly to the economy
in many countries. But informality is often linked to
legal and political vulnerability, which can limit opportunities
for economic and social development at both the individual
and community levels. Rights and protection required
to support self-employment, start businesses and become
a micro-entrepreneur – as derived from existing rights,
including political, civil, economic and social ones
– are essential for the livelihoods of the poor An effective
legal system, local government institutions and services
that are more open, accessible, accountable and have
legitimacy, are key for a more inclusive society and
empowerment of the poor.
There should, however, be no presumption that the poor
only want to become entrepreneurs and that they are
not risk averse. Micro-entrepreneurship and selfemployment
is often not a question of choice, but a function of
a lack of other options.
Read More.
Labour Rights
One of poor people’s greatest assets is their
ability to work. Yet most of the world’s poor work in
the informal economy in badly paid jobs, struggling
to carve out a decent living.
With this in mind, UNDP’s legal empowerment of the
poor work encourages more inclusive labour standards
and rights – both nationally and internationally – while
advocating for more productive and decent jobs.
Internationally-agreed labour standards cover a number
of vital issues that feature prominently in efforts
to legally empower the poor:
- the freedom of association and protection of the
right to form and join trade unions;
- the elimination of forced or compulsory labour in
all its forms; - just and favourable conditions of work;
- the elimination of discrimination in access to employment,
training and working conditions;
- equal pay for men and women for work of equal value;
- the abolition of child labour.
Despite a long-standing commitment by all countries
to these rights and standards, a large majority of workers
remain excluded.
Ensuring decent work for the world’s poor is another
vital component of legal empowerment, from investing
in creating a secure workplace to equal opportunities
and treatment for all women and men.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates
that over 600 million working poor people who earn less
than $1.25 a day toil in the informal economy, unable
to lift themselves and their families out of poverty.
It is important to recognize that it is not the informality
but the nature of their activity that is often the cause
of their poverty: if people were able to earn more from
their work – formally or informally - poverty would
decline. While most international labour standards are
applicable to workers in the informal economy, their
enforcement by countries that lack capacity is often
weak or non-existent.
Read More
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