The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

The UK ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 8 June 2009, but there's a lot of evidence that disabled people’s human rights are still being infringed.

Ratification alone will not suffice and the extent to which the rights guaranteed under the Convention become an everyday reality for all disabled people will depend on the effective implementation of the Convention across the UK. There are many barriers that disabled people continue to experience such as the lack of access to services, discrimination and negative attitudes, which prevent them from fully enjoying their rights. Removing these barriers is an integral part of the Government’s obligations under the CRPD.

What are we focusing on?

Scope’s work is focused on the need to ensure better protection and effective realisation of disabled people’s rights under the Convention. We are also working to ensure that no matter what changes are proposed to the human rights framework (such as any proposals coming from the new Commission set up to investigate the creation of a Bill of Rights), there will be no regression in relation to the level of protection afforded to disabled people such as under the Human Rights Act.

Monitoring the progress made towards the CRPD implementation in the UK is an important element of our work on the Convention. We are working with the UK Disabled People’s Council and have created a website www.disabilityrightswatchuk.org where you can register and share your stories of how well you can enjoy your rights or what prevents you from doing so.

This is a great opportunity to share your everyday experience of human rights as a disabled person and be involved in monitoring the Convention. This evidence will be used to prepare a parallel report for the UN Committee for when it reviews the UK's performance in complying with what the Convention says.  

Want to know more?

To learn how to get involved in monitoring the Convention, have a look at www.disabilityrightswatchuk.org. You can also read this short guide to find out more about what we are doing and feel free to use and distribute our poster to get others participate as well!

Read the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Read the UN Convention in plain language.

Read the UN Convention in easy read format (PDF document, 2.1MB).

Read the Handbook for Parliamentarians on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The UN Enable site gives detailed information on the UN’s work on disability rights.