Submission of the New Zealand Human Rights Commission to the 18 th session of the Human Rights Council; New Zealand’s Second Universal Periodic Review. Introduction 1. The New Zealand Human Rights Commission (“Commission”) derives its statutory mandate from the Human Rights Act 1993 (“HRA”). The long title to the HRA states that the Commission’s role is to provide better protection of human rights in New Zealand in general accordance with the United Nations Covenants or Conventions on Human Rights. The Commission has “A” status accreditation from the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions. 2. The Commission appreciates the opportunity to provide information to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (“Committee”) in response to the List of issues (“LOI”) on New Zealand’s initial report under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (“CRPD”). 3. The New Zealand government established an Independent Monitoring Mechanism (“IMM”) in 2011 to fulfil the requirements of Article 33 of the CRPD. The IMM consists of three independent partners: the Ombudsman, the Commission and the Convention Coalition.1 4. In 2013 the Commission, both independently and as a member of the IMM, made submissions to the United Nations Human Rights Council in relation to New Zealand’s second Universal Periodic Review (“UPR”). In its submission the IMM highlighted ongoing concerns in relation to data collection, education, reasonable accommodation and accessibility.2 Attached as Appendix 1 is a copy of the IMM submission to the UPR. 5. In August 2014 the IMM released its second report on the implementation of the CRPD in New Zealand. Attached as Appendix 2 is a copy of the Summary version of the IMM’S second report on the implementation of the CRPD in New Zealand. 6. The report identifies five key areas where, despite some progress, more work is required in order to promote the greater realisation of the rights set out in the Convention. These five key areas are: • data • accessibility • building a people driven system • violence and abuse The Convention Coalition is made up of seven national Disabled People’s Organisations. Copies of the Commission and IMM submissions to the UPR can be found here: http://www.hrc.co.nz/international-human-rights-new/upr-1314-nzs-second-universal-periodic-review/ 1 2 2