What is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities?

The rights of persons with disabilities are grounded in a broad human rights framework based on the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, international covenants on human rights and other human rights instruments.   However, these treaties had failed to address the pressing issues of people with disabilities and it was determined that a specific treaty to address their concerns was needed.

The “preamble” of the CRPD clearly recognizes that disability has been traditionally linked to poverty and that people with disabilities need to be involved in addressing these issues.