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Mr Chairman,
We have before us decisions which will have a direct bearing on the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms by over 600 million people around the world. I am talking here about the ten percent of the world’s population who have a disability of one kind or another.
It has taken at least a couple of decades for the international community to acknowledge, as a human rights issue, the strictures under which the vast majority of persons with disabilities live. It has taken all this time to acknowledge also that these strictures are a consequence of the discrimination which many persons with disabilities routinely experience.
Persons with disabilities are not asking for new or different rights, Mr Chairman. Their aspiration is simply to enjoy all human rights on an equal basis with other people and without discrimination based on their disability. They want the freedom to make the choices about their everyday lives choices that the rest of us take for granted. and, they do not want their choices made for them, even by those who would do so with the best of intentions.
Mr Chairman, the international community now has the opportunity to make good its neglect and often wilful disregard of the rights of this large, diverse and marginalised group of people. It is important to conclude the negotiations as rapidly as possible. But, this should not be at the expense of the quality of the final document.
This Convention will undoubtedly break new ground. We must ensure that it will be a significant addition to the body of international human rights law. Persons with disabilities have waited too long for this Convention. New Zealand urges the international community to put its full weight behind these important negotiations.
Mr Chairman, I thank you.
