HRC61 - EU General Comment - Item 3/ Resolution L.5
UN Human Rights Council
61st Session – Item 3
Resolution L.5– GC
Support systems to ensure community inclusion of persons with disabilities
EU General Comment
Mr President,
I speak on behalf of the EU Member States who are members of the Council. This statement has been agreed by the EU as a whole.
We deeply thank Mexico and New Zealand for presenting to the Council this biennial initiative on the rights of persons with disabilities.
The EU strongly supports inclusivity and thanks the core group for their efforts in building on the advancements already reached and identifying challenges for the future. We also thank the Office of the High Commissioner for the production, in coordination with relevant stakeholders, of their reports and recommendations that have been the base of our discussions during the informal negotiations.
L.5 is centred on disability-inclusive digital technologies and infrastructure, including transport and housing, which are essential for ensuring equal opportunities for persons with disabilities to live independently, to exercise their human rights and to participate fully in all aspects of life. Disability-inclusive infrastructure must be gender-responsive and age-sensitive and that accessibility must go hand-in-hand with affordability, usability, universal design, reasonable accommodation, and the meaningful participation of persons with disabilities and their representative organization across the policy cycle.
Looking ahead, digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, provide opportunities for advancing disability rights, but the use of these technologies is also associated with risks of exclusion, discrimination and infringements to the right to privacy. The EU believes that the text of L.5 strikes a balance on these opportunities and risks.
The EU welcomes that the next Annual Interactive Debate on the rights of persons with disabilities at the 64th session will mark the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The commitment to this Convention is deep and unique for us: both the EU and its 27 member States have ratified it. Implementing the Convention remains essential. We welcome the aim to debate on lessons learned and challenges ahead in the development of human rights standards and norms.
The EU acknowledges with appreciation that accessibility in this 61st session of the HRC, as well as in the parallel CRPD session, has been ensured. We reiterate the importance of international sign language and simultaneous captioning in all mandated activities related to rights of the persons with disabilities. Budgetary or liquidity constraints cannot be an excuse for undermining fundamental inclusivity across the UN.
For time economy of adoption procedure, please let us also commend Mexico’s constructive approach in other initiatives presented in this session.
The EU is pleased to support L.5 as presented by New Zealand and Mexico and we call on this Council to adopt this resolution by consensus.
Thank you, Mr President.