Promoting the rights of Children with disabilities innocenti digest no

un standard rules on the equalization of 
opportunities for Persons with disabilities
The CRC provides a binding implementation frame-
work with implications for law, policy and practice 
with respect to children with disabilities. The Stand-
ard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for 
Persons with Disabilities, adopted by the UN General 
Assembly in 1993, provides detailed guidance on 
what should be done and how to do it.
19
The Com-
mittee on the Rights of the Child recommended that 
the two documents be used as complementary tools 
in promoting the rights of children with disabilities.
20
Around the world, these Rules have had a major 
influence on the development of disability legisla-
tion, the level and provision of services for persons 
with disabilities and, above all, on attitudes towards 
disability issues. The simplicity of the Rules enables 
them to be used as a practical tool by those involved 
in developing disability legislation and policy.
21
Unlike the CRC, which is legally binding for all States 
that have ratified or acceded to it, the Standard Rules 
express a political commitment on the part of States 
to adapt society to individuals with functional impair-
ments. The Rules address all aspects of the lives of 
persons with disabilities and indicate how govern-
ments can make social, political and legal changes 
to ensure that persons with disabilities are treated 
as full citizens of their country. The Rules cover four 
main areas:
Preconditions for equal participation (awareness 
1 
raising, medical care, rehabilitation, support serv-
ices and accessibility).
Target areas for equal participation (accessibility, 
2 
education, employment, income maintenance 
and social security, family life and personal integ-
rity, culture, recreation and sports, religion).
Implementation measures (information and re-
3 
search, policy-making and planning, legislation, 
economic policies, coordination of work, organi-
zations of disabled persons, personnel training, 
national monitoring and evaluation of disability 
programmes in the implementation of the Rules, 
technical and economic cooperation and interna-
tional cooperation).
Monitoring mechanisms. The implementation of 
4 
the Rules is monitored by the Special Rapporteur 
on Disability (see box 4.2), assisted by a commit-
tee of experts drawn from the main international 
NGOs concerned with disability.
In October 2006 the Office of the UN Special Rap-
porteur on Disability published the results of a Global 
Survey on the Implementation of the Standard Rules, 
conducted by the South–North Center for Dialogue 
and Development, based in Amman, Jordan.
22
A 
detailed questionnaire was sent to 191 government 
bodies in member States and to two organizations 
representing persons with disabilities in each coun-
try; information was received from 114 countries. 

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Innocenti Digest No. 13
Promoting the Rights of Children with Disabilities