The UN Convention and its Effects on
Implementing ICTs and New Technologies for
Persons with Disabilities
By Axel Leblois
Executive Director, G3ict
ITU Workshop on Accessibility
October 13-14-15, Bamako, Mali
Purpose of the Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities
To promote, protect and ensure the
full and equal enjoyment of all
human rights and fundamental
freedoms by all persons with
disabilities, and to promote respect
for their inherent dignity
(Article 1)
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Slide 2
What is unique about the
Convention?

Both a development and a Human Rights
instrument

A policy instrument which is crossdisability and cross-sectoral

Legally binding
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Slide 3
The Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities





Slide 4
Adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly on December 13, 2006
Universal framework for the protection of
the rights of persons with disabilities
8th Universal Convention on Human Rights
and 1st of this millennium
143 countries have signed it as of
September 2009 – 87 with the Optional
Protocol
71 have ratified it, representing over 70%
of the World Population
4
Georgia: A Hub for Digital Accessibility Innovation
Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 1 October 2008
Slide 5
Signatures and Ratifications
Sub-Saharan Africa as of October 2009
Benin
Gabon
Mali
Sierra Leone
Signed: 8-2-2008
Signed: 30-3-2007
Signed: 15-5-2007
Signed Protocol: 8-2-2008
Signed Protocol: 25-9-2007
Signed Protocol: 15-5-2007
Ratified: 1-10-2007
Ratified: 7-4-2008
Burkina Faso
Signed: 23-5-2007
Ghana
Signed: 30-3-2007
Ratified: 23-7-2009
Signed Protocol: 30-3-2007
Signed: 25-9-2007
Signed: 26-4-2007
Signed Protocol: 31-8-2007
Signed Protocol: 26-4-2007
Ratified: 8-2-2008
Signed: 1-10-2008
Signed: 30-3-2007
Ratified: 19-5-2008
Lesotho
Central African Republic
Signed: 9-5-2007
Ratified: 2-12-2008
Liberia
Signed Protocol: 9-5-2007
Signed: 30-3-2007
Congo (Republic of the)
Signed: 30-3-2007
Signed Protocol: 30-3-2007
Madagascar
Signed Protocol: 30-3-2007
Signed: 25-9-2007
Ratified Protocol: 1-10-2008
Signed Protocol: 25-9-2007
Cote d'Ivoire
Malawi
Signed: 7-6-2007
Signed: 27-9-2007
Signed Protocol: 7-6-2007
Ratified: 27-8-2009
Ethiopia
Signed: 30-3-2007
Slide 6
Signed: 30-3-2007
Kenya
Signed Protocol: 1-10-2008
Sudan
Mozambique
Ratified Protocol: 8-2-2008
Cape Verde
Signed: 30-3-2007
Signed Protocol: 25-9-2007
Signed: 16-5-2007
Cameroon
Signed: 30-3-2007
Signed Protocol: 30-3-2007
Ratified: 30-11-2007
Ratified Protocol: 30-11-2007
Mauritius
Guinea
Burundi
South Africa
Ratified Protocol: 7-4-2008
Signed Protocol: 23-5-2007
Ratified Protocol: 23-7-2009
Signed: 30-3-2007
Signed Protocol: 30-3-2007
Niger
Signed: 30-3-2007
Ratified: 24-4-2009
Ratified Protocol: 24-4-2009
Swaziland
Signed: 25-9-2007
Signed Protocol: 25-9-2007
Signed: 30-3-2007
Signed Protocol: 2-8-2007
Ratified: 24-6-2008
Ratified Protocol: 24-6-2008
Nigeria
Signed: 30-3-2007
Signed Protocol: 30-3-2007
Rwanda
Ratified: 15-12-2008
Ratified Protocol: 15-12-2008
Senegal
Signed: 25-4-2007
Signed Protocol: 25-4-2007
Togo
Signed: 23-9-2008
Signed Protocol: 23-9-2008
Uganda
Signed: 30-3-2007
Signed Protocol: 30-3-2007
Ratified: 25-9-2008
Ratified Protocol: 25-9-2008
United Republic of Tanzania
Signed: 30-3-2007
Signed Protocol: 29-9-2008
Zambia
Signed: 9-5-2008
Signed Protocol: 29-9-2008
Agenda

ICT accessibility in the Convention:
new rights for a new era

Application covered by the
Convention

Special dispositions promoting
accessible & assistive technologies

Implementation
Slide 7
Accessibility in the Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Preamble (v):
“Recognizing the importance of accessibility
to the physical, social, economic and cultural
environment, to health and education and to
information and communication, in enabling
persons with disabilities to fully enjoy all
human rights and fundamental freedoms”.
Slide 8
The Pervasive Impact of ICTs on All
Aspects of Life

A Massive Increase in ICT usage:
 900 million personal computers
 1.6 + billion Internet users (incl. shared /
mobile access)
 1.4 billion telephone land lines
 1.5 billion TV sets and 2.4 billion radios
 4 billion cell phones, over 2 billion text
messaging users
Major impact of ICT accessibility on education,
employment and cultural opportunities
China’s leadership in ICT usage opens large
opportunities for ICT Accesibility programs
Slide 9
Accessibility Rights: ICTs On Par with
Physical Environment & Transportation
« To enable persons with disabilities to live
independently and participate fully in all
aspects of life, States Parties shall take
appropriate measures to ensure to persons
with disabilities access, on an equal basis
with others, to the physical environment, to
transportation, to information and
communications, including information and
communications technologies and
systems... » (Article 9)
Slide 10
Implications of Article 9

Based on the definition of Article 9, all
sector specific accessibility dispositions
cover ICT accessibility

The terms “Accessibility” and
“Accessible” appear respectively 9 and
17 times in the text of the Convention

The term “Reasonable Accommodation”
is included 7 times with equal impact
on ICT applications
Slide 11
Main Dispositions with Implications for ICT
Accessibility and Assistive Technologies
Application Areas
CRPD
Article
Accessibility
Mandates
Reasonable
Accommodation
Promoting
Assistive
Technologies

E-Government
9.2.a

Media and Internet
9.2.b

Education
24


Employment
27


Political Rights
21

9.1.b

Emergency services
Culture & Leisure
30.5.c

Private sector services
9.2.b


Personal Mobility
20

Rehabilitation
26

Slide 12
Private Sector Services Accessibility
“The state must insure that private entities
that offer facilities and services to the
public take into account the accessibility of
those services” (Art. 9)
(Also mentioned in Art. 21)
Slide 13
Special Dispositions Promoting
Accessible & Assistive Technologies
1.
Mandate to promote R&D
2.
ICT Products Development and
Universal Design
3.
Reasonable accommodation defined
and mandated
4.
Obligation for States to set
accessibility standards
5.
Intellectual property rights
6.
Promoting New Media and the
Internet for Persons with Disabilities
Slide 14
1 - Promoting R&D for Assistive
Technologies
State Parties...undertake or promote
research and development of, and to
promote the availability and use of new
technologies, including information and
communications technologies, mobility
aids, devices and assistive technologies,
suitable for persons with disabilities,
giving priority to technologies at an
affordable cost (Article 4 – g)
Slide 15
2 - ICT Products Development

Early Stage Accessibility Definitions:
 “Promote the design, development, production and
distribution of accessible information and
communications technologies and systems at an early
stage, so that these technologies and systems become
accessible at minimum cost” (Art. 9)

Universal Design:
 “To undertake or promote research and development
of universally designed goods, services, equipment and
facilities, as defined in article 2 of the present Convention,
which should require the minimum possible adaptation and
the least cost to meet the specific needs of a person with
disabilities, to promote their availability and use, and to
promote universal design in the development of standards
and guidelines” (Art. 4)
Slide 16
3 - Reasonable Accommodation
Defined and Mandated
“Reasonable accommodation” means
necessary and appropriate modification
and adjustments not imposing a
disproportionate or undue burden,
where needed in a particular case, to
ensure to persons with disabilities the
enjoyment or exercise on an equal basis
with others of all human rights and
fundamental freedoms (article 2)
General obligation in article 3, referenced in
articles on education and employment
Slide 17
4 - Standards
« States Parties shall take…appropriate
measures to develop, promulgate and
monitor the implementation of minimum
standards and guidelines for the
accessibility of facilities and services
open or provided to the public »
Article 9-2 (a)
Slide 18
5 - Intellectual Property Rights
“States Parties shall take all
appropriate steps, in accordance with
international law, to ensure that laws
protecting intellectual property rights
do not constitute an unreasonable or
discriminatory barrier to access by
persons with disabilities to cultural
materials.”
(Article 30 on Cultural life)
Slide 19
6 - New Media and the Internet
« States Parties shall also take
appropriate measures to…promote
access for persons with disabilities to
new information and communications
technologies and systems, including
the Internet »
Article 9 (g)
Slide 20
Next Steps Towards Implementation
 Legislative
process
 Challenges
to implement ICT
accessibility policies and
programs
 G3ict
Slide 21
mission and activities
Legislative and Regulatory Process

Signing of the Convention

Ratification

Parties States must then align their
legislation and regulations with the
dispositions of the Convention unless
already more favorable

Optional Protocol and Committee on
Disability

A long but irreversible process with
worldwide pressure from NGOs
representing persons with disabilities
Slide 22
Challenges for State Parties to the
Convention
1. Limited references available to implement the
dispositions of the Convention covering ICT
Accessibility
2. Speed of change due to technological
developments
3. Requirement to make accessible and assistive
ICT products affordable :
Need to create favorable conditions for industry
Supporting standards for mass production,
economies of scale, competition, interoperability and
lower prices
Risk of fragmentation without global harmonization
Slide 23
G3ict Mission
“To Facilitate the Implementation of
the Digital Accessibility Agenda
Defined by the Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities”
A Flagship Advocacy Initiative of the
Global Alliance for ICT and Development
Slide 24
G3ict Activities


Advocacy, Awareness Raising
Knowledge hub for Policy Makers and Civil
Society:
 Good practices sharing and references
 National seminars at government’s request
 Promoting standards

Tools to be released in 2009:
 Self-assessment Tool
 Digital Accessibility and Inclusion Index
 Toolkit for Policy Makers

In cooperation with:
 The Private Sector, Disabled Persons Organizations,
International Institutions, Academia, Standards
Development Organizations and Governments
Slide 25
Georgia: A Hub for Digital Accessibility Innovation
Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 1 October 2008
Slide 26
G3ict – ITU Toolkit
Slide 27
Thank You
www.g3ict.org
www.e-accessibilitytoolkit.org
axel_leblois@g3ict.org
+1 (404) 641 5661
Slide 28