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International legal references on Human Rights

All international human rights instruments protect the human rights of persons with disabilities, as they apply to all persons. This principle of universality is reinforced by the principles of equality and non-discrimination, which are included in human rights instruments.

 

International Bill of Human Rights:

  • Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN, Paris, 1948)

Art. 23 Establishes that everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

  • International Covenants on Human Rights (UN, 1966)

- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)


Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN, 1990)

We highlight its article 23, which refers to children with some type of disability, recognizing their right to enjoy a full life in conditions that ensure their dignity, allow them to become self-sufficient and facilitate their active participation in the community. Likewise, it recognizes their right to receive special care and adequate assistance aimed at ensuring effective access to education, training, health and rehabilitation services, preparation for employment and leisure opportunities, all aimed at achieving social integration and individual development.


 International legal references on disability rights

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) [NY, 2008]

The Convention was conceived as a human rights instrument with an explicit dimension of social development. It adopts a broad classification of people with disabilities and reaffirms that all people with all types of disabilities should be able to enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms. It clarifies and clarifies how all categories of rights apply to persons with disabilities and indicates the areas in which adaptations are necessary so that persons with disabilities can effectively exercise their rights and the areas in which they have been implemented. violated those rights and in which they should be reinforced

 

General comment No. 9 [2006]: The rights of children with disabilities

It was published with the aim of offering guidance and assistance to States to make the rights of children with disabilities effective in a general way that encompasses the entire article of the Convention.


Specific international references regarding employment and disability rights

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

Sets the basic rules for the States parties in the implementation of the employment rights of persons with disabilities: Non-discrimination, Accesibility, (Art.2) Reasonable accommodation, Positive measures.

The art. 27 of CRPD is one of the most detailed provisions of the Convention, establishing the legal framework for State obligations in relation to work and employment of persons with disabilities. It provides that every disabled person has the right to work, and provides a wide range of rights which allow people with disabilities to participate in the workplace on an equal basis as the individuals without a disability.

 

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which accomplishment requires global collaboration between governments, social and political players and civil society.

The 2030 Agenda contributed to many debates around disability to regain force, such as the interrelation between disabilities and poverty, the contribution the persons with disability can make to the society, the way in which the social prejudices and stereotypes put additional barriers and actually “create” disabilities.

 

Convention 159 on Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons)

It provides that “each Member (State) shall consider the purpose of vocational rehabilitation as being to enable a disabled person to secure, retain and advance in suitable employment and thereby to further such person's integration or reintegration into society”. It prescribes that States shall adopt policies that would “aim at ensuring that appropriate vocational rehabilitation measures are made available to all categories of disabled persons, and at promoting employment opportunities for disabled persons in the open labour market; be based on the principle of equal opportunity between disabled workers and workers generally”.


Express international recognition and awareness of the Autistic Disorder Spectrum

A/RES/67/82. Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly, 2012 

General Assembly expressly recognizes the need to promote and protect the human rights of all people with ASD, ensuring equal opportunities for them to reach their optimal development potential.

United Nations Assembly Resolution 62/139 of December 18, 2007

The Resolution  designates April the 2nd as World Autism Awareness Day, which has been observed since 2008, to increase public awareness of ASD, while recalling the vital importance of research and early diagnosis and appropriate intervention for the growth and development of the person.


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