Human Rights and Disability A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions of Experts on Disability, the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency has developed useful indicators on the right to participate in the political life of the nation.52 It has also produced a set of indicators on the right to live independently and be included in the community.53 The Danish Institute on Human Rights has developed ‘gold indicators’ that measure progress towards meeting the obligations of the Convention across a range of domains.54 NHRIs should consult these indicator sets and adjust them to their own country environment. To assist States, the World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a ‘model disability survey’ which “is a general population survey that provides detailed and nuanced information about how people with and without disabilities conduct their lives and the difficulties they encounter, regardless of any underlying health condition or impairment. The [survey] helps Member States identify the barriers that contribute to the problems people encounter, which, in turn, helps guide policy and service development.”55 The WHO website contains links to national disability surveys. NHRIs can play a role to help tailor and use these indicator sets in order to collect meaningful data. This topic is of crucial importance. If the wrong things are measured then the policy solutions that follow will answer the wrong questions. The move to the human rights model ensures that the focus must be on the experiences of persons with disabilities and the barriers they face. By making sure that the right questions are asked, the right data is collected and the right kind of policy responses are explored, NHRIs can model and apply the human rights frame in practice. 1.8. THE SCOPE FOR SOME IMPAIRMENT-SPECIFIC DEFINITIONS IN BROADER SOCIAL LAW The human rights model moves the definition of disability away from impairment toward the interaction of impairment with arbitrary barriers. This does not mean that States do not have some discretion when it comes to establishing narrower definitions, especially for the purpose of targeting scarce resources for a definable group or when determining eligibility criteria for certain programs or services. They may also do so if the intention is to improve the status of particularly disadvantaged groups.56 This legislation is more typical of a social agenda rather than a civil rights or human rights agenda. Both sets of laws are needed, however. Impairment-specific definitions are acceptable if they do not undermine the broad goals and principles of the UN CRPD. Of course, there may be instances where such impairment-specific definitions are too removed from the key goal of overcoming disadvantage and advancing equality; for example, a law that preserves certain low-paying and low-status jobs for particular impairment groups. In principle, however, such approaches are not necessarily at odds with the human rights frame and the spirit of the Convention. However, NHRIs have a particular responsibility to ensure that such legislation meets these broader objectives. 20 52 ‘Indicators on the Right to Political Participation of People with Disabilities’; available at http://fra.europa.eu/en/publications-andresources/data-and-maps/comparative-data/political-participation. 53 ‘Rights of Persons with Disabilities (The Right to Independent Living)’; available at http://fra.europa.eu/en/project/2014/rightspersons-disabilities-right-independent-living/indicators. 54 Available at www.humanrights.dk/activities/our-work-denmark/disability/gold-indicators-crpd. 55 Available at www.who.int/disabilities/data/mds/en/. 56 OHCHR, Monitoring the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Guidance for Human Rights Monitors, Professional Training Series No. 17, 2010; available at www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/Disabilities_training_17EN.pdf.