Strategic Priority: Eliminating violence and abuse The following case study shows how we have advocated for greater equity for disabled people. Case study: Advancing the rights of disabled people In August 2022 the Commission participated in the examination of the New Zealand government on their progress towards realising the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (the Disability Convention). the discrimination, inequality, poverty, and poor outcomes that remain the reality for many disabled people, and which for Tāngata Whaikaha Māori are worsened by the enduring and compounding effects of colonisation and racism. We supported the UN Disability Convention Committee’s examination as an independent check on the government’s information. We aimed to influence the Concluding Observations to improve the lives of Tāngata Whaikaha Māori and disabled people in Aotearoa. We called on the UN Disability Convention Committee to make several specific recommendations to the New Zealand government, including to: The Commission’s participation in New Zealand’s country review was over three days at the UN. This was a culmination of many years of monitoring, reporting, and advocacy by Te Kāhui Tika Tangata and its partners within the Independent Monitoring Mechanism (IMM), and alongside other civil society groups from Aotearoa, particularly, disabled people’s organisations. The IMM lodged three of its reports with the Disability Convention committee for its examination: • Making Disability Rights Real (2014 – 2019) (2020) • Making Disability Rights Real in a Pandemic (2021) • Disability Rights: How is New Zealand Doing? (2022)https://www.ombudsman.parliament. nz/IMM-Disability-Rights-report Additionally, Te Kāhui Tika Tangata submitted a supplementary report calling for an end to the exclusion of disability support for people affected by fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, chronic fatigue and other rare disorders. The report also called for a fully inclusive education system including reversing enrolment in segregated residential specialist schools. At New Zealand’s examination, the Commission made opening and closing remarks highlighting 26 Pūrongo ā-tau Annual Report 2023 • uphold Te Tiriti rights of Tāngata Whaikaha Māori and resource a representative and mandated network • rapidly raise the living standards of disabled people by prioritising them throughout welfare reform, including by significantly raising thresholds to support disability-related costs • support affordable and accessible housing options including substantially increasing the target for universally designed new-build public housing • remove the diagnosis-based exclusion of many disabled people from governmentfunded disability supports. The outcome of the 2022 Committee’s examination of New Zealand is a set of Concluding Observations that recommend action to strongly reflect the calls made by Te Kāhui Tika Tangata. The Committee drew urgent attention to its recommendations on: • Article 28 (adequate standard of living and social protection) • Article 19 (living independently and being included in the community) which Te Kāhui Tika Tangata had specifically emphasised in its reports and speeches As part of the IMM we will continue to monitor the implementation of the Committee’s recommendations and emphasise those needing urgency.