Timeline of the CRPD: Three decades in the making - how did we get here?

The following timeline reveals some of the key events and actors in and around the UN system that brought us to the drafting and final adoption of the CRPD.

• Lead-up to the establishment of the Ad Hoc Committee

1976: The General Assembly declared 1981 the International Year of Disabled Persons (IYDP), with an emphasis on full participation

1977: The General Assembly established the Trust Fund for the International Year and collected $510,000 from member states

1981: International Year of Disabled Persons - States, local communities and organizations of persons with disabilities, undertook activities for the IYDP

1982: As a follow-up to the IYDP, on 3 December, the UN adopted the World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled Persons and proclaimed 1983-92 as the UN Decade of Disabled Persons

1987: Mid-decade review experts meeting in Italy - first call for a new Human Rights Convention with no success.  Italy prepared a draft treaty outline that was submitted to the General Assembly at its 42nd session, in October.  The General Assembly discussed the desirability of an international treaty, but reached no formal agreement to proceed.

1989: Second unsuccessful call for a convention, this time following a meeting in Sweden.  Again, no success on the convention but laid the groundwork for development of the Standard Rules

1992: December 3rd named as Annual International Day of Disabled Persons (IDDP)

1993: The General Assembly adopted the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities after further attempts to secure a convention failed

2000: The World NGO Summit on Disability (attended by international and national disability organizations, including DPI) adopted the Beijing Declaration on the Rights of People With Disabilities in the New Century, calling for a new human rights convention for people with disabilities

Ambassador de Alba of Mexico

• Establishment of the Ad Hoc Committee

2001: December 19, the General Assembly passed Resolution 56/168, introduced by Mexico, and thereby established the Ad Hoc Committee (AHC) with the mandate:

. to consider proposals for a comprehensive and integral international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities, based on the holistic approach in the work done in the fields of social development, human rights and non-discrimination and taking into account the recommendations of the Commission on Human Rights and the Commission for Social Development.

Who was Involved?

The guiding principle of the process since the beginning was full inclusion of all relevant stakeholders. From this base an impressive and diverse range of participants were involved, including:

• UN member states
• UN observers
• Relevant UN bodies and organizations
• Special Rapporteur on Disability
• National human rights institutions
• Non-governmental organizations, including disabled people's organizations (DPOs)

Non-governmental organizations, including disabled people's organizations (DPOs)

Session 1 29 July - 9 August 2002 Chaired by Ambassador Luis Gallegos of Ecuador, who chaired subsequent sessions until the end of the fifth session of the AHC Discussed rationale for convention Survived attempts to kill the process Agreed to meet again 2003

Ambassador Gallegos of Ecuador - first chair of the Ad Hoc Committee

Session 2

16-27 June 2003

• Decision to proceed with drafting convention
• Discussions over process to proceed
• Decision to establish Working Group
• Decision on Working Group membership

Working Group (WG) 5-16 January 2004 27 governments - equally distributed across the 5 UN Regions 12 NGOs (including DPI) 1 National Human Rights Institution Representative) Discussions led by Coordinator (New Zealand's Ambassador MacKay) Produced Working Group draft text (WG text) to form basis of negotiations

Ambassador Don MacKay of New Zealand - second chair of the Ad Hoc Committee

Session 3

24 May - 4 June 2004

• Commenced first reading of WG text
• AHC members proposed amendments
• Produced compilation of amendments document
• Decision to delay consideration of some issues:
• Definitions
• Monitoring
• Final Provisions

Session 4

23 August - 3 September 2004

• Completed first reading
• Began review of suggested amendments
• WG Text Articles 1 - 15
• Conducted informal sessions with Coordinator and country facilitators to synthesize text
• WG Text Articles 4 - 7
• Agreed to meet again in 2005

Session 5

24 January - 4 February 2005

• Conducted informal sessions with Coordinator and country facilitators to synthesize text
• WG Text Articles 7(5) - 15
• Agreed to meet again in August 2005

Session 6

1-12 August 2005

• Conducted informal sessions with Chair (1st meeting with Ambassador MacKay as Chair) to synthesize text
• WG Text Articles 15 - end
• Agreed to meet again in 2006
• Chair issued "Chair's Text" in October 2005, synthesizing the amendments made to date

Session 7

6 January - 3 February 2006

• Conducted informal sessions with Chair to complete 1st reading of the Chair's Text
• Revised "Working Text" issued (covering Articles Preamble - Article 33 on National Level Monitoring)

Session 8

14 - 25 August 2006

• Conducted formal and informal sessions with Chair to respond to the Working Text
• Agreed to address some issues related to monitoring in an optional protocol
• Reached agreement on substance of text of the CRPD and its Optional Protocol
• Forwarded draft CRPD and Optional Protocol to technical Drafting Committee to review and proof-read

Drafting Committee

5 September - 1 November 2006

• Facilitated by Stefan Barriga of Lichtenstein
• Discussed matters of formatting, proofread the draft text, and ensured that the text had the same meaning in each of the six official UN languages.
• Issued four revised versions of the draft CRPD and its Optional Protocol
• Issued fourth revised version on 1 November, to be considered by the AHC

Session 8 - resume meeting

 

5 December 2006

• Conducted 1 day "resume" meeting of its Eighth Session in order to receive and review the fourth revised draft from the Drafting Committee
• Reached final agreement on text of the CRPD and its Optional Protocol
• Adopted the Report of its Eighth Session, calling for the UN General Assembly to adopt the CRPD and its Optional Protocol at its meeting on 13 December, 2006
• Closed the AHC once and for all

General Assembly

 

13 December 2006

• Received report of the AHC and considered draft text of the CRPD and its Optional Protocol
• Agreed to adopt the CRPD and its Optional Protocol, and agreed to open these documents for signature on 30 March 2007
• Some UN Member States gave statements welcoming the adoption of the Convention and clarifying their interpretation of some of the articles

30 March 2007 - CRPD and its Optional Protocol opened for signature at UN Headquarters in New York