General News
UN Sets up Group to Examine Situation of PwD's in Haiti
A working group comprising United Nations experts has been created to look into the situation of Haitians with disabilities, who have been disproportionately affected by Januaryโs catastrophic earthquake.
Todayโs ( http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=9873&LangID=E )announcement comes after a group of UN human rights experts last month appealed for the needs of the disabled in Haiti to be included in the relief, recovery and reconstruction processes following the magnitude-7.0 earthquake.
The 12 January quake killed up to 200,000 people, injured many others and left one third of the countryโs nine million people in need of aid.
The decision to set up the new working group was made by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities during its recent meeting in Geneva from 22 to 26 February.
It underscored that under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, โStates are to take all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk and natural disaster like the occurrence of this earthquake.โ
The new body will also look into the situation of people with disabilities in other countries affected by devastating natural disasters, including Chile, where it is estimated that 2 million people were impacted by last Saturdayโs magnitude-8.8 quake.
Early last month, the Committee stressed in a ( http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=9810&LangID=E )news release that persons with disabilities must not become โthe forgotten onesโ during the emergency response and the reconstruction of Haiti.
Its current chairperson, Mohammed Al-Tarawneh, said that โwhile relief workers are struggling to provide aid to the people of Haiti and while the situation remains difficult for everyone, persons with disabilities are particularly affected by the crisis,โ especially if their caregivers have been killed or injured.
The 12-member Committee, tasked with monitoring the Convention, urged Haiti to ensure that persons with disabilities fully participate in the decision-making process regarding social and economic reconstruction and that their long-term development needs be taken into account.
The Convention, which entered into force in May 2008 and has so far been endorsed by 144 countries, is the culmination of years of global efforts to ensure that the rights of the worldโs estimated 650 million persons with disabilities are guaranteed and protected.
It asserts the rights to education, health, work, adequate living conditions, freedom of movement, freedom from exploitation and equal recognition before the law for persons with disabilities.
Email from: Frank Mulcahy
