INTERVENTION DURING PLENARY SESSION
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
prepared for the Seventh Session of the Ad Hoc Committee, January 2006
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The International Disability & Development Consortium - a global consortium of nongovernmental organizations supporting disability and development work in more than 100
countries around the world – fully supports the IDC proposal for a separate Article on
International Cooperation.
We express our appreciation to the Ad Hoc Committee for its support of the inclusion of
international cooperation as one of the paramount implementation provisions in this
Convention and welcome the Facilitator’s efforts in finding suitable and agreeable text.
While we do not want to burden the Ad Hoc Committee with yet another new concept, we
believe that inclusive development is the best means to achieve the full enjoyment of all
human rights by all people regardless where they live.
Inclusive development ensures that all phases of the development cycle – design,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation – are inclusive and ensure meaningful
participation of persons with disabilities in all processes and policies.
It also implies a rights-based approach to development, understood as a framework for human
development firmly grounded in international human rights standards and focused on the
promotion and protection of human rights.
While we understand the stance taken by some delegations that the term “international
cooperation” is to be understood as broadly as possible, we underscore the necessity to
include persons with disabilities at all levels of development programs. Based on current
estimates development programs include only 3-4% of persons with disabilities. Thus, 96% of
persons with disabilities do not benefit from development programs. This is not a gap, this is
millions of persons with disability not being taken into consideration.
There is a strong trend in many of the national development programs to ensure the
inclusion of persons with disabilities in these programs and based thereon support for such a
provision should be possible.
As the resolution initiating the current negotiations states – and as was stressed again by High
Commissioner Louise Arbour here last week – the present treaty must address both social
development as well as human rights. Underscoring this point the High Commissioner stated
that “International cooperation must also play a role in ensuring that progress is made
everywhere, particularly in less developed States.”
Also, we would like to draw the Committee’s attention to a resolution passed by the
Parliament of the European Union last week on the issue of disability & development. We
thank the Secretariat for posting it on the web site.
The resolution highlights the importance of mainstreaming disability into all levels of
international development policy and calls for action on implementing the European Union
Guidance Note on Disability & Development.
In addition, the parliament called on the European Commission to support the inclusion of a
separate article on international cooperation in the present Convention as – I quote –
“a necessary foundation for collaborative actions in pursuit of inclusive development and to
facilitate bilateral and multilateral exchange of expertise, between developing countries and
between such countries and the European Union.” End quote.
Finally, looking toward the future, for which this Convention is being created - and in the
context of implementation – as well as in light of the ongoing discussions on monitoring we
would like to also emphasize the High Commissioner’s statement on the importance of
international monitoring for international cooperation.
Thank you.
What is IDDC?
www.iddc.uk.org
It is a global consortium of non-governmental organizations supporting disability and development work in more
than 100 countries around the world. Its aim is to promote the rights of persons with disabilities through
effective collaboration and sharing of information and expertise. IDDC believe that these goals can only be
achieved through inclusive development policy and practice.
IDDC member organizations are facilitating the participation of under-represented groups of persons with
disabilities from developing countries to participate in the convention process and are closely collaborating with
organizations involved in the convention process as part of the International Disability Caucus;
Provides accessible information for DPOs and NGOs in order for them to understand the convention process, its
implications and, ultimately, to participate in the future implementation of the convention.
IDDC has developed a Task Group on the UN Convention that is responsible for contributions to the convention
process to ensure that Inclusive Development issues are part of it.
International Disability and Development Consortium Members
Action on Disability and Development (ADD)
Finnish Disabled People’s International Development
Associazione Italiana Amici di Raoul
(FIDIDA)
Follereau (AIFO)
Handicap International (HI)
Basic Needs
Healthlink Worldwide
Christoffel Blindenmission (CBM)
Organismo di Volontariato per la Cooperazione
Danish Council of Organisations of Disabled
Landmine Survivors Network (LSN)
People
Leonard Cheshire International
Dutch Coalition on Disability and Development
Light for the World
(DCDD)
Norwegian Association of the Disabled (NAD)
Platform Disability and Development Cooperation
Word Vision UK
Save the Children UK
Sight Savers International
Swedish Organisation of Disabled Persons (SHIA)
Please note that some of the members of the International Disability & Development Consortium (IDDC) are
also members of the International Disability Caucus (IDC) at the Ad Hoc Committee.