International law handbook

Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities
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2. Measures to this end include:
(
a
) Initiating and maintaining effective public awareness campaigns designed:
(i) To nurture receptiveness to the rights of persons with disabilities;
(ii) To promote positive perceptions and greater social awareness towards persons 
with disabilities;
(iii) To promote recognition of the skills, merits and abilities of persons with disabili-
ties, and of their contributions to the workplace and the labour market;
(
b
) Fostering at all levels of the education system, including in all children from an early age, 
an attitude of respect for the rights of persons with disabilities;
(
c
) Encouraging all organs of the media to portray persons with disabilities in a manner 
consistent with the purpose of the present Convention;
(
d
) Promoting awareness-training programmes regarding persons with disabilities and the 
rights of persons with disabilities.
article 9. accessibility
1. To enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects 
of life, States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure to persons with disabilities access, 
on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and 
communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and to 
other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas. These 
measures, which shall include the identification and elimination of obstacles and barriers to acces-
sibility, shall apply to, inter alia:
(
a
) Buildings, roads, transportation and other indoor and outdoor facilities, including 
schools, housing, medical facilities and workplaces;
(
b
) Information, communications and other services, including electronic services and 
emergency services.
2. States Parties shall also take appropriate measures:
(
a
) To develop, promulgate and monitor the implementation of minimum standards and 
guidelines for the accessibility of facilities and services open or provided to the public;
(
b
) To ensure that private entities that offer facilities and services which are open or provided 
to the public take into account all aspects of accessibility for persons with disabilities;
(
c
) To provide training for stakeholders on accessibility issues facing persons with disabilities;
(
d
) To provide in buildings and other facilities open to the public signage in Braille and in 
easy to read and understand forms;
(
e
) To provide forms of live assistance and intermediaries, including guides, readers and 
professional sign language interpreters, to facilitate accessibility to buildings and other facilities 
open to the public;
(
f
) To promote other appropriate forms of assistance and support to persons with disabilities 
to ensure their access to information;
(
g
) To promote access for persons with disabilities to new information and communications 
technologies and systems, including the Internet;
(
h
) To promote the design, development, production and distribution of accessible informa-
tion and communications technologies and systems at an early stage, so that these technologies and 
systems become accessible at minimum cost. 

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VIII. International human rights law
article 10. right to life
States Parties reaffirm that every human being has the inherent right to life and shall take all 
necessary measures to ensure its effective enjoyment by persons with disabilities on an equal basis 
with others.
article 11. situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies
States Parties shall take, in accordance with their obligations under international law, includ-
ing international humanitarian law and international human rights law, all necessary measures to 
ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including situations 
of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and the occurrence of natural disasters.
article 12. equal recognition before the law
1. States Parties reaffirm that persons with disabilities have the right to recognition everywhere 
as persons before the law.
2. States Parties shall recognize that persons with disabilities enjoy legal capacity on an equal 
basis with others in all aspects of life.
3. States Parties shall take appropriate measures to provide access by persons with disabilities 
to the support they may require in exercising their legal capacity.
4. States Parties shall ensure that all measures that relate to the exercise of legal capacity pro-
vide for appropriate and effective safeguards to prevent abuse in accordance with international 
human rights law. Such safeguards shall ensure that measures relating to the exercise of legal capac-
ity respect the rights, will and preferences of the person, are free of conflict of interest and undue 
influence, are proportional and tailored to the person’s circumstances, apply for the shortest time 
possible and are subject to regular review by a competent, independent and impartial authority or 
judicial body. The safeguards shall be proportional to the degree to which such measures affect the 
person’s rights and interests.
5. Subject to the provisions of this article, States Parties shall take all appropriate and effective 
measures to ensure the equal right of persons with disabilities to own or inherit property, to control 
their own financial affairs and to have equal access to bank loans, mortgages and other forms of 
financial credit, and shall ensure that persons with disabilities are not arbitrarily deprived of their 
property.
article 13. access to justice
1. States Parties shall ensure effective access to justice for persons with disabilities on an equal 
basis with others, including through the provision of procedural and age-appropriate accommoda-
tions, in order to facilitate their effective role as direct and indirect participants, including as wit-
nesses, in all legal proceedings, including at investigative and other preliminary stages.
2. In order to help to ensure effective access to justice for persons with disabilities, States Par-
ties shall promote appropriate training for those working in the field of administration of justice, 
including police and prison staff.
article 14. liberty and security of person
1. States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others:
(