Monitoring the Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Laws, Policies and Programs in New Zealand
All rights reserved. Published 2011
Published by Disability Rights Promotion International (DRPI)
York University 4700 Keele Street
5021 TEL Building Toronto
ON M3J 1P3 Canada
Email DRPI
Telephone: +1 416 736 2100 x.20718
Author: Petra Butler
This report relies on research conducted in the Law Faculty of Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand and research done by the Convention Coalition, a collaboration of disabled peoples' organisations in New Zealand. The research utilised a systemic monitoring template devised by Disability Rights Promotion International (DPRI), an international project developed to monitor the human rights situation of people with disabilities, based at York University in Toronto, Canada.
This research was supported by funding from New Zealand's Office for Disability Issues (ODI). ODI does not necessarily share the views expressed in this material. Responsibility for its contents rests entirely with the author.
Disability Rights Promotion International
This publication has been produced by Disability Rights Promotion International (DRPI). In November 2000, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Disability, Bengt Lindqvist, hosted an international seminar at the Almåsa Conference Centre in Sweden. Twenty-seven experts from around the world discussed measures to strengthen the protection and promotion of the human rights of persons with disabilities. The seminar was attended by representatives of all the major international disability organisations, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Secretariat, disability rights activists and experts on human rights. Seminar participants recommended the creation of a global system to monitor disability rights – that is, to collect, track and report on information about ways in which persons with disabilities are enjoying their human rights. The DRPI project was designed and developed by Bengt Lindqvist and Marcia Rioux to work towards creating a global disability rights monitoring system.
As governments of countries around the world ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and its Optional Protocol, it is important to make sure that the rights guaranteed to persons with disabilities on paper are achieved in their daily lives. For the CRPD to have a real and positive impact on the lives of persons with disabilities, governments need to have a baseline of information so that they can identify gaps in whether and how persons with disabilities are exercising their rights. This information makes it possible to measure how the situation is improving. Collecting, tracking and reporting on information about whether persons with disabilities are enjoying their rights, also called 'monitoring' rights, plays an important role in this process.
Working collaboratively with persons with disabilities, their organizations and allies, DRPI has developed tools and methods to facilitate disability rights monitoring as well as supporting materials and courses to build capacity in monitoring. DRPI has adopted the twin-track approach to advancing the rights of persons with disabilities, that is, recognizing the importance of universal ratification, implementation and monitoring of the CRPD to achieving the full enjoyment of rights by persons with disabilities while also acknowledging the important role to be played by other human rights treaties that apply to persons with disabilities, for example, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). In keeping with the twin-track approach, DRPI's tools and methods can be used to monitor both the CRPD and the other international and regional human rights treaties that apply to persons with disabilities.
DRPI has its International Coordination Centre at York University in Toronto, Canada and regional centres in Africa (Kigali, Rwanda), Asia-Pacific (Bangkok, Thailand), Europe (Belgrade, Serbia), Latin America (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and North America (Toronto, Canada). It has partnered with organizations of persons with disabilities national human rights institutions, universities and research centres around the world to conduct disability rights monitoring projects lead by persons with disabilities, in 10 countries located across all continents. DRPI monitoring reports from Kenya (2007), Cameroon (2007), India (2009), Bolivia (2009), Philippines (2009) Canada (2010) and New Zealand (2010), submissions made to the UN Commission on the Status of Women (2008) and Human Rights Council (2010), as well as DRPI's disability rights monitoring tools, training materials and information about current monitoring activities are all available on the project website.
Project Directors and Principal Investigators:
Bengt Lindqvist, UN Special Rapporteur on Disability (1994-2002), Sweden
Marcia Rioux, Professor, York University, Canada
International Coordination Centre Staff :
Rita Samson, International Project Coordinator
Mihaela Dinca-Panaitescu, Canada Project Coordinator
Christopher Lytle, Research Associate
Paula Pinto, Research Associate
The DRPI project has received financial support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Department of Canadian Heritage, York University, State University of New York at Buffalo, L'Institut de réadaptation en déficience physique de Québec (IRDPQ), le Centre interdisciplinaire de recherche en réadaptation et intégration sociale (CIRRIS) and the Swedish Association of the Visually Impaired (SRF). We thank all of these organizations for their generous support.