DISABLED PEOPLE'S RIGHTS MUST NOT BE IGNORED - LIZ LYNNE

12.00.00am GMT Mon 4th Feb 2008

Photo (l-r): Christine Naughton (Christian Blind Mission), Isabella Wahedova (Light for the World), Liz Lynne MEP, Lars Bosselman (Christian Blind Mission), Cecilia Cranfield (Light for the World), Fiona Thornton (CORD, Christian Organisations in Relief and Development) at the European Parliament in Brussels. 31/1/08

A local Liberal Democrat Euro-MP's campaign to get more EU Member States and other countries to commit to greater rights for disabled people, by signing and ratifying the UN's Disabilities Convention, stepped up a gear when she met with leading disability organisations at the European Parliament in Brussels.

When it was launched last year the UN convention was enthusiastically signed by a number of countries but since the initial wave, far fewer countries have signed. This prompted Liz Lynne MEP to launch a Written Declaration on the subject, which if signed by enough Euro-MPs will prompt a debate in the European Parliament.

Liz Lynne, Vice President of the All Party Disability Intergroup and rapporteur for a 2003 European Parliament report on the UN Convention for disabled people's rights, met disability organisations CORD, Christian Blind Mission and Light for the World to further campaign on the issue.

Speaking today, Liz said:

"Achieving a legally binding United Nations convention was a huge milestone, but it is no use if countries do not sign and ratify it.

"After a good start, progress with the Convention has been poor - we must keep up the pressure on countries to sign, ratify and implement the Convention if we are to deliver the equality that disabled people deserve. International human rights treaties are worthless if they are not enforceable.

"My hope is that the declaration we launched will achieve a high profile debate in the European Parliament which will send a strong message reminding people of the importance and potential of this Convention in the fight to secure fundamental human rights for all disabled people.

"I encourage people to write to their MEPs, persuading them to sign this declaration, so this issue gets the attention it deserves across the EU and beyond."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Photo (l-r): Christine Naughton (Christian Blind Mission), Isabella Wahedova (Light for the World), Liz Lynne MEP, Lars Bosselman (Christian Blind Mission), Cecilia Cranfield (Light for the World), Fiona Thornton (CORD, Christian Organisations in Relief and Development) at the European Parliament in Brussels. 31/1/08

The Written Declaration below, if signed by over half of the 785 MEPs before the 26th of February, will prompt a debate on the subject in the European Parliament. As of the 30th of January 2008, 185 Members had signed.

Written declaration on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The European Parliament,

A. whereas the first human rights treaty of the 21st Century, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and its Optional Protocol opened for signature on 30 March 2007, with 82 signatories on the first day, yet to date only three countries have ratified the Convention and Optional Protocol,

B. whereas a disability exists if essential personal and social experiences are influenced by physical and mental limitations and the discrimination resulting from them,

C. whereas there are more than 50 million disabled people in the European Union,

1. Urges every EU Member State to sign and ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol and to encourage third countries to do likewise;

2. Urges the Commission and all Member States to embrace the 'nothing about us, without us' principle, and to work with disabled people to implement the Convention;

3. Instructs its President to forward this declaration, together with the names of the signatories, to the Council, the Commission, the Member States, the Council of Europe and the United Nations.

Link to countries which have signed and ratified the Convention: http://www.un.org/disabilities/countries.asp?navid=12&pid=166

Link to article on the Convention and its text: http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?navid=12&pid=150