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International focus on the disabled

The United Nations General Assembly is scheduled to adopt the International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities — the first human rights treaty of this century — at its 61st annual session this month. The instrument, which aims at enhancing the quality of the life of an estimated 650 million disabled people — 80 per cent of whom live in developing countries — is the latest among the global treaties targeted at specific minority groups such as children, women, and migrant workers. The core objective of the convention, which is to guarantee equal opportunities and freedom from discrimination, continues to be of immense relevance globally. Of particular importance to a country such as India is the article that obliges governments to expand the reach of inclusive education — the education of disabled children together with the non-disabled ones. The convention stops short of clamping a ban on the predominant, current mode of imparting learning for the handicapped in exclusive settings, euphemistically called `special' schools, with the potential to enforce segregation. But even where the general education system cannot fully support the individual needs of the disabled, the departure must nonetheless be consistent with the goal of inclusion.

While the effects of the 2004 Asian Tsunami and the situation in the perpetually strife-torn parts of the world have brought the issue of the disabled to the fore and lent it a sense of urgency, the original clause providing for an international mechanism to monitor the implementation of the Convention has been watered down to a mere authorisation of individuals and non-government organisations to forward complaints of violations. The United States has from the start held back its support for the new Convention, voicing apprehension that its own law on disability might thereby be diluted. Such a position does not stand to reason as U.N. instruments merely prescribe minimum standards and do not impinge on the status of domestic legislation. In fact, the U.S. could continue to play a lead role on the global arena, given that its own Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 has inspired similar legislation in countries such as India and the United Kingdom.

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