Human Rights and Disability A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions ORGANISATION OF THIS MANUAL This Manual is divided into three Parts. Part I deals with ideas. This is foundational since the move to a human rights framing of disability is both recent and not yet widely understood. It is a shift in values that really matters. However, the daily reality for most people with disabilities is still a long way from these ideals. The legacy of the past will not be erased easily and NHRIs have a critically important role to play in both promoting and popularising this shift to a new way of understanding disability. And, from a very practical point of view, it is clarity on these ideas that will assist NHRIs in deciding which strategy to follow, what to prioritise and how to ensure that their work complements the calls for change made by others. Part II deals with the law. It traces how the shift to this new framing of disability at the level of ideas has informed the development of international and regional human rights law. Front and centre is the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. A consideration of its main features – the rights protected, the obligations imposed and the mechanisms for change envisaged – and its operation at the international level is necessary to ground the work of NHRIs and give it practical application at the domestic level. It is also important to understand the impact of the UN CRPD across other long-standing human rights treaties. Many NHRIs will already have a strong track record on, for example, promoting and protecting the rights of women. They will increasingly have to consider the rights of disabled women in their ongoing work. Likewise, it is important to be aware of the impact of the Convention within regional organisations and on their human rights instruments; for example, the European Union and the Organization of American States. The ripple effect of the UN CRPD is strong and NHRIs will increasingly be required to mainstream their disability work across these diverse instruments. Part III deals the process of change and the key role that NHRIs can and should play. Since the process of change is multi-faceted and principally involves people with disabilities, this calls for a close relationship between NHRIs and civil society to ensure that the voice of people with disabilities is expressed and heard. NHRIs must be internally organised and operate in ways that model respect for the rights of persons with disabilities. They should also ensure that the general responsibilities of NHRIs to ‘promote, protect and monitor’ the human rights of persons with disabilities is done to the greatest effect. Each country will have its own legacy from the past to untangle. Each will have its own culture and attitudes that either help or hinder the process of change. Each will have its own political system through which change can be achieved. NHRIs are ideally placed to both grasp the importance of international law and to tailor it to their local circumstances. Any respectable theory of change must include NHRIs. Indeed, the evidence presented in this Manual demonstrates that NHRIs can play a hugely important role in driving the process of change. 6