universally applied to all people; some groups have been less of a priority for
governments in the enforcement of their rights over the years.^8 9
The United Nations began negotiation of a new convention, dedicated to the rights of
persons with disabilities, in 2001. This was as a result of tenacious and persuasive
lobbying by non-governmental organizations, disability organizations and advocacy by
governments such as Mexico and New Zealand.^10
Action by all involved was critical to address the alarming situation of persons with
disabilities throughout the world. Some of the statistics which ignited this action were
the following:
- Twenty percent of the world's poorest people were disabled, and
tended to be regarded in their own communities as the most
disadvantaged; 11 - The mortality rate for children with disabilities may have been as high
as 80% in countries where under-five mortality as a whole had
decreased below 20%;^12 - According to UNICEF, 30% of street youths have disabilities;^13
- Persons with disabilities are more likely to be victims of violence or
rape, according to a 2004 British study, and less likely to obtain police
intervention, legal protection, or preventive care;^14 - Women and girls with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to abuse. A
small 2004 survey in Orissa, India, found that virtually all of the women
(^8) Supra note 2 at 324.
(^9) Early on, it was recognized that some groups of people who suffer discrimination needed their own
specific conventions to enshrine in more detail the rights that apply to those groups. The need for group-
specific coverage was recognized by, for example, the adoption of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 18 December 1979, 1249 UNTS 13, 19 ILM 33
(entered into force 3 September 1981); the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of
Racial Discrimination, 21 December 1965, 660 UNTS 195, 5 ILM 350 (entered into force 4 January
1969); and, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, 1577 UNTS 3, 28 ILM 1456
(entered into force 2 September 1990). 10
11 Supra note 2 at 324.^
UN Web Services Section, Department of Public Information, “Some Facts about Persons with
Disabilities,” online: http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/facts.shtml. 12
13 Ibid.^
14 Ibid.^
Ibid.