The Netherlands shortly will ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). On 10 September DCDD-Chair Agnes van Wijnen will present to Minister Ploumen for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation recommendations for implementation of the CRPD articles that are related to international cooperation. This will happen at Leave No One Behind, the symposium organized by the Liliane Foundation at the occasion of its 35th anniversary. The international symposium will be held at the New World Campus in The Hague.
The five recommendations will be presented as work in progress. The final version will also include the results of the symposium.
Full text
The text that will be submitted to the Minister, is the following:
For an adequate implementation of articles 11 and 32 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN-CRPD), DCDD makes the following tentative recommendations, under the assumption that they will be implemented in close and active consultation with people with disabilities (PWD) and their representative organisations, respecting their rightful mantra: Nothing about us without us!
R1: Involve partner countries
Make PWD inclusion an intrinsic element of the dialogue with partner countries and learn from each others experiences. Both the CRPD and the Sustainable Development Goals – with Leave No One Behind as a key principle – can be relevant guidelines for this dialogue.
R2: Strive for policy coherence
Unity of policies increases their effectiveness. Streamline priorities. An example: Increasing PWD’s labour participation in the Netherlands is high on the government’s agenda. It should also be a predominant issue in the Business Programme of the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation (FT-DC).
R3: Ensure collaboration between Ministries
Close collaboration between the Ministry for FT-DC, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and other ministries involved in the implementation of the CRPD, is a precondition for worldwide sharing of learning experiences on poverty and disability. Appoint a focal person.
R4: Integrate PWD into priority themes and emergency aid
Including PWD explicitly in the four priority themes and emergency aid, will increase the effectiveness of FTDC policy. Moreover, as a human rights champion, the Netherlands owes it to itself to do this.
R5: Collect data. Enhance knowledge.
For evidence-based policies, invest in data collection and knowledge development.
