The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the first disability-specific, international legal instrument that provides a comprehensive approach to respecting, protecting and fulfilling the rights of persons with disabilities. The Convention explicitly empowers persons with disabilities as holders of rights, as distinct from being treated as objects of charity. The ESCAP region played an instrumental and historic role in the initiation and drafting of the Convention. As of 30 October 2012, 126 States globally are parties to the Convention and 154 are signatories, of which, in the Asia-Pacific region, 35 Governments have signed the Convention and 25 have ratified the Convention or acceded to it.
Target 9.A
By the midpoint of the Decade (2017), 10 more Asia-Pacific Governments will have ratified or acceded to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and by the end of the Decade (2022) another 10 Asia-Pacific Governments will have ratified or acceded to the Convention
Target 9.B
Enact national laws which include anti-discrimination provisions, technical standards and other measures to uphold and protect the rights of persons with disabilities and amend or nullify national laws that directly or indirectly discriminate against persons with disabilities, with a view to harmonizing national legislation with the Convention
Indicators for tracking progress
Core indicators
- 9.1. Number of Governments that have ratified or acceded to the Convention
- 9.2. Availability of national anti-discrimination legislation to uphold and protect the rights of persons with disabilities
Supplementary indicators
- 9.3. Number of Asia-Pacific Governments that have ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- 9.4. Number of amended or nullified laws that directly or indirectly discriminate against persons with disabilities