The next public examination of the UK under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People (CRDP) is coming up.
An important part of the reporting process is for Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations (DDPOs) to give our views on how well the UK is doing on fulfilling its obligations under the CRDP.
This is done by putting together what is called a shadow report and sending it to the UN Committee responsible for the CRDP. They will then consider the shadow report alongside information sent to them by the UK government. The Equality and Human Rights Commission and its equivalents in Scotland and Northern Ireland will also send information. You can find out more about the reporting procedure on the EHRC Human Rights Tracker website: https://humanrightstracker.com/en/un-treaty/crpd/
The next examination will be the second time the UK has gone through this process. The CRDP Committee are particularly interested in looking at how far their previous recommendations have been met.
The Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance is working with partners in the DPO Forum, Disability Rights UK’s Our Voices and Disabled People Against Cuts to collect evidence and draft a shadow report for England. Disability Wales, Inclusion Scotland and Disability Action Northern Ireland are working on reports for their respective nations.
We want Deaf and Disabled People, DDPOs and allies such as disability charities and human rights organisations to send us evidence that you think should be included in the England shadow report.
What To Send
Please send information you feel is relevant to how well specific Articles of the Convention or previous recommendations are being met within England.
Evidence can focus on as many or as few of the recommendations and/or Articles as you choose to.
- You can read the Articles of the Convention here: https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-2.html
- You can find the full list of recommendations in the Committee’s 2017 ConcludingObservations document as well as on the Human Rights Tracker website.
- Inclusion London is also creating a list of key legislation and policies introduced since 2017 that are relevant to each recommendation. This will be available soon from www.inclusionlondon.org.uk/uncrdp
Information that you send could be links to reports, statistics or other data. Every point we make in the report needs to be backed up by evidence that is properly referenced. Please make sure you include the source of any information you send us including title, author and date of publication.
The Committee are also interested in the lived experiences of Deaf and Disabled people. If you or members of your group or organisation want to send us examples from your own lives, please be aware that everything we are sent in response to our call for evidence will be published online and will be publicly available. Please do not include any identifying information such as people’s names unless you have explicit permission. download a permission form to complete here.
If sending lived experience testimonies please also indicate which recommendation or Article they are relevant to.
How To Send It
You can send evidence in written English or BSL.
- Email information to CRPD@inclusionlondon.org.uk with “Evidence” in the subject line.
- BSL videos can be sent by email to CRPD@inclusionlondon.org.uk or via WhatsApp to 07561 064 227
- If you send evidence in video format you will also need to complete and email this form giving us permission to publish it online. Without this permission it cannot be considered.
What We Will Do With Your Evidence
We will be publishing all of the information received online. Please state if you wish this to be done under your name/the name of your group or organisation or whether you want it to be anonymous.
The word limit is exceptionally tight. We have just 5,350 words for the England shadow report although this does not include footnotes or annexes. This means we cannot include every piece of information we are sent. We will however look at and consider everything we receive.
The final shadow report will be circulated for sign up among those who submit evidence in February 2022. It will be officially launched in March.
The CRDP Committee is unable to receive four separate nation documents as they have a backlog of work as a consequence of the pandemic. We will therefore be working with our partners in the devolved nations to create one single UK wide report. The Committee has given us permission for this to have an extended length of 10,700 words. This is what will be submitted to them. This UK report will consist of sections taken from each of the four nation reports. Anything that cannot fit within the body of the text will be added as annexes.
“Disability campaigners may waste their futile lives away, battering against the rocks of official indifference” said someone with good writing skills. “There is One Equality and It’s Name is Racism” is the unspoken clear understanding of all officials. Sir Trevor Phillips observed that Disablism is “invisible, universally practiced, publicly accepted, institutional, and, in it’s effects on people’s lives, is in many ways worse than racism” Nobody took any notice of him then or since, even though at the time he was himself.chair of EHRC