In a statement published on Wednesday 18 February, the European Disability Forum (EDF) called on the United Nations and its Member States to guarantee full funding for the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
In a press release, the organisation deplores the suspension of certain accessibility services, in particular international sign language interpretation and captioning for Committee experts, during certain sessions. While it welcomes the decision to restore this funding for the next session, it states that this " ongoing doubt” over accessibility measures risks excluding disabled persons from fully engaging in its work.
EDF also condemns the discontinuation of national sign language interpretation during dialogues with States and the lack of reasonable accommodation for UN Committee member Hiroshi Tamon.
Acknowledging an “unprecedented” liquidity crisis for the institution, relating to the arrears of contributions of certain Member States, the Forum recalls that accessibility “is not an optional cost” and calls on the Secretary General to provide the necessary support to the Committee and on the Member States to honour their contributions.
To see the declaration: https://aeur.eu/f/ku0 (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)