United Nations

Four children with intellectual disabilities will address two major United Nations (UN) Committees in a high-level event in Geneva on 26 September. Inclusion Europe will focus on discussing the meaningful participation of children with intellectual disabilities in all matters related to their own lives.

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will hold its 12th session from 15 September to 3 October in Geneva.

Dainius Puras was elected as the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

The 11th session of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will take place between the 31st of March and 11th of April 2014, at Palais Wilson, in Geneva.

International Disability Alliance (IDA) chair Yannis Vardakastanis addressed United Nations (UN) Member States, UN agencies and civil society at the UN Headquarters in New York on 6 February 2014, calling for a post-2015 sustainable development agenda that is inclusive of persons with disabilities.

The Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure will enter into force on 14 April 2014, three months after its ratification by 10th country - Costa Rica. The Protocol will enable children to bring their complaints of human rights violations before the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

During the United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on Disability and Development, UN officials and civil society called on the Member States to ensure greater support for inclusion of persons with disabilities in global development agenda.

The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) recently launched a survey to find out how persons with disabilities cope during disasters and to help ensure disability is included in post-2015 development agenda on disaster risk reduction. The survey covers the types of hazards and risks that persons with disabilities are exposed to in disaster zones, as well as personal and national plans for action and risk reduction.