Persons with disabilities

Dignity and justice for all of us is the theme of this year's International Day for Persons with Disabilities, as well as for the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
As such, significant, indeed, should be the year 2008 in the international human rights movement, in view of the entry into force, on 3 May, of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol, legally binding instruments, which set out the legal obligations of states to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities.
Notably, the UDHR also stipulates, in its numerous articles, each person's "right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age, or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control." And what's more, Article 28 asks States Parties to safeguard and promote the realisation of the right to an adequate standard of living and social protection, including "access by persons with disabilities and their families living in situations of poverty to assistance from the State with disability-related expenses, including adequate training, counselling, financial assistance and respite care."
All this put together, can be taken as reaffirmation of the right of persons with disabilities to full and equal enjoyment of their human rights, as also of the principles of 'dignity and justice for all of us'. All these dignified biddings notwithstanding, all over the world, persons with disabilities continue facing obstructions to participation in society, rather forced to live on the margins of society.
Generally speaking, they are denied basic rights. Again, as 80 percent of persons with disabilities, totalling over 400 million people, reportedly live in poor countries, there continues to be a strong link between disability and poverty. For instance, in developing countries, 80 percent to 90 percent of such persons of working age remain unemployed, as against between 50 percent and 70 percent in the industrialised countries. Similarly, 90 percent of children with disabilities in developing countries do not attend school.
This, to say the least, will be taken as pathetic. As for the plight of women, in this context, some 20 million of them reportedly develop disabilities from complications during pregnancy or childbirth, thus pointing to the urgency for all States to sign, ratify and implement the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol.
This may be why one of the fundamental obligations enshrined in the Convention is that national law should guarantee the enjoyment of the rights enumerated in the Convention, thus beckoning States seriously to think of the best possible ways in which to incorporate the rights guaranteed by the Convention in domestic law. It can thus be safely inferred that the annual observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, while promoting understanding of disability issues and mobilising support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities, also needs to focus on the creation of enough awareness of the real motive behind it.