November 30 2017 Submission from New Zealand’s Independent Monitoring Mechanism to Inform the Development of the List of Issues Prior to Reporting for New Zealand’s 2nd Periodic Review under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities An Independent Monitoring Mechanism (IMM) was designated by the New Zealand Government in 2010 to fulfil obligations under Article 33 (National implementation and monitoring) of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). It is made up of the Human Rights Commission, the Office of the Ombudsman and the Disabled People’s Organisations Coalition (DPOs). DPOs are an alliance of Disabled People’s Organisations that undertake activities such as research on the lives of disabled people. The Human Rights Commission (Commission) which is part of the IMM derives its statutory mandate from the Human Rights Act 1993 (‘HRA’). One of the primary functions of the Commission is to promote and protect the full and equal enjoyment of human rights by persons with disabilities. The Commission has ‘A’ status accreditation from the International Co-ordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions. The Ombudsmen are Officers of Parliament. Each Ombudsman is appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of Parliament. They are responsible to Parliament and independent of the Government. The Ombudsmen investigate, review and inspect the conduct of public sector agencies and provide advice and guidance, to ensure people are treated fairly in New Zealand. Contact Persons: Douglas Hancock, Senior Adviser, Douglash@hrc.co.nz Emma Leach, Assistant Ombudsman, Emma.Leach@ombudsman.parliament.nz November 2017 Page 1