Human Rights and Disability

Over 600 million people, or approximately 10 per cent of the world's population, have some kind of disability, and over two thirds live in developing countries. The human rights perspective on disability involves a move away from an approach motivated by charity towards viewing the disabled as holders of rights without discrimination. As such, it places the debate in its wider social context of how difference in treated in our society. This study has three main aims: to discuss the relevance of six UN treaties in the specific field of disability; to review how member states have responded to the obligations established under these treaties; and to consider options for the future to strengthen the system of human rights for people with disabilities.