CRPD Consultation on the draft guidelines for deinstitutionalization, including in emergencies

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) opened a call for submissions in June 2022. The call was for comments and suggested amendments to the ‘Draft Guidelines on Deinstitutionalization, including in emergencies’. 

The guidelines are designed to clarify to State Parties to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) how to understand and implement article 19 of the UNCRPD, General Comment no 5 on article 19 on the Right to Live Independently and be Included in the Community’ and the ‘Guidelines under Article 14 and the Right to Liberty and Security of Persons with Disabilities’. These guidelines are particularly important to address how COVID-19 has affected the progress, or the lack thereof, of the process of deinstitutionalisation for persons with disabilities. 

The draft guidelines emphasise that emergencies need to be approached as accelerators for deinstitutionalisation, not as a reason to pause or reverse the progress being made for independent living. IF proposed to the CRPD to add text which emphasised the role of stigma in hindering independent living and societal inclusion of persons with disabilities, and the importance of ensuring that services are available for the entire lifespan of persons, including childhood and old age. 

In addition IF requested that health care be mentioned as one of the essential mainstream services which need to be available so persons with disabilities can live independently. 

You can read IF’s contribution to the call for submissions on the draft guidelines for deinstitutionalization, including in emergencies here.

You can learn more about the draft guidelines on the CRPD’s website here.