On May 13, 2008, one day following the United Nations (UN) celebration for the entry-into-force of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the International Disability Alliance (IDA) CRPD Forum held its first meeting at the UN Millennium Hotel in New York City. The IDA CRPD Forum is a new coalition open to all organizations that support the criteria set up by the Forum Steering Committee and the leadership of organizations of persons with disabilities, in the spirit of the motto "Nothing About Us, Without Us."
The IDA CRPD Forum will build on the experience from International Disability Caucus (IDC), and will be open those organizations currently in the IDC. There will also be an email listserve open for people interested who support disability rights and the implementation of CRPD.
The Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) webconferencing software enabled a greater inclusion of those in the disability community in all parts of the world, who did not have the funding to travel to New York for this occasion.
Participants at the meeting discussed the organization of the new IDA CRPD Forum, and ways for participants to work together to promote the Convention and its Optional Protocol, at the international, regional and national levels. Participants suggested some preliminary actions to be taken to continue to encourage more ratifications of the Convention, to promote a transparent and consultative process for the nomination and election of members of the treaty monitoring body, and to ensure effective and comprehensive implementation, among other issues affecting the disability community as a whole.
For more information, about the IDA CRPD Forum, please contact:
Lauren Goldy, IDA Secretariat
c/o Rehabilitation International (RI)
25 E. 21st Street, New York, NY 10010
Web: www.riglobal.org
Email: lauren@riglobal.org
Phone: (212) 420-1500 ext. 208