Ministry Statements & Speeches:
Mr President,
We thank the Special Rapporteur for her presentation and latest report.
Full and effective participation in political life is essential to realising human rights. This means ensuring that persons with disabilities can vote, stand for office, engage in public decision making, and influence the policies that affect them.
New Zealand is committed to building an inclusive and accessible democracy. Our Electoral Commission’s Disability Strategy provides a long term framework to identify and remove barriers that persons with disabilities face when enrolling and voting. The Strategy aims to ensure disabled voters can cast an independent and secret ballot, access electoral information, and benefit from ongoing improvements.
As the Special Rapporteur said, voting is only one part of political life. We also have the Election Access Fund. This Fund supports disabled people to stand as candidates in parliamentary elections by reducing cost barriers. It pays for additional costs that candidates incur as a result of their disability when standing for election.
This work sits alongside our broader efforts. New Zealand has recently adopted our third Disability Strategy. This sets out the vision for achieving an equitable and accessible place for all disabled people to thrive, contribute, and choose the lives they want to lead. It has a strong focus on education and employment – key enablers of participation in political life.
Special Rapporteur, what more can states do to support the participation of persons with disabilities in political life?