People with disabilities have the right to live their lives included in the community. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons
There is group of experts called the United Nations Committee
This committee is part of the United Nations.
The Committee writes a document on how to better
Countries should pay attention to General Comments
Inclusion Europe has prepared a document to give advice |
Inclusion Europe has submitted its position to contribute to the Draft General Comment on Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) on the Right to live independently and be included in the community.
On 19 April 2016 in Geneva, Switzerland, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will host a Day of General Discussion on the Article 19 of the UN CRPD on the right to live independently and be included in the community.
All submissions and the Day of General Discussion will contribute to the development of a General Comment on the UN CRPD Article 19. Inclusion Europe welcomes the development of this General Comment as independent living is key to ensure persons with intellectual disabilities are included in the community on an equal basis with others.
The General Comment will clarify what is independent living and what are the exact implications on Member States to provide persons with disabilities with choices and adequate support in their lives.
Still a large number of persons with intellectual disabilities and complex needs are living in institutions. They do not receive adequate support or have the opportunity to choose the services that they want to use in the community. Living in an institution is a violation of their fundamental rights on a daily basis, therefore deinstitutionalisation is an important prerequisite of independent living.
We hope that this submission, prepared by the Working Group on Human Rights of Inclusion Europe, will help the UN CRPD Committee to understand the position of persons with intellectual disabilities and their families, starting with:
- emphasizing legal capacity as an important prerequisite of independent living and the need to abolish all forms of substituted decision-making regimes and replace them with supported decision-making;
- developing a range of community-based services that support persons with disabilities to live their lives independently while allowing them to choose the form of support they want;
- ultimately implement measures to ensure the involvement of all persons with disabilities in the planning, implementation and monitoring of the transition from institutional to community-based care.