Brussels, 28/08/2006 (Agence Europe) - In a press release, European Social Affairs Commissioner Vladimir Spidla welcomes the conclusion of the negotiations on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in New York on 26 August. Last Friday, after five years of negotiations, a UN General Assembly committee adopted a draft convention which seeks to protect and promote the rights of the 650 million people with disabilities throughout the world. This convention will be adopted by the General Assembly which opens in September. President of the UN General Assembly Jan Eliasson said that the extraordinary message that everyone is equal was being sent to the world. The Convention establishes that persons with disabilities shall enjoy the full range of Human Rights (civil, political, economic, social, and cultural).
In his press release, Commissioner Spidla says that the Commission, which issued a communication to support the elaboration of this Convention in 2003, the European Year of People with Disabilities, had, in 2004, been given a negotiating mandate by the Council since the Convention touches upon Community competences. Mr Spidla highlights the active involvement in the negotiation process of the Commission and of European and other organisations of persons with disabilities.