Revival of the Commonwealth Disabled Peoples’ Forum and the 12th session of the UN state party conference on the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities.
By: Nkhasi Sefuthi
By: Nkhasi Sefuthi
The Chairperson of the Lesotho National Federation of Organisations of the Disabled (LNFOD), Mrs. 'Mabataung Khetsi, represented people with disabilities in the revival of the Commonwealth Disabled Peoples Forum (CDPF) that was co inciting with the state party conference on the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (CRPD) from the 10th to the 14th June in New York.
The CDPF is an international organization of persons with disabilities established by organisations of persons with disabilities in 2008 to advocate for the development of disability inclusive development policies and implementation of the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities in the commonwealth countries. It was successfully revived in June this year following its demise in 2012 as a result of financial constraints.
With the commitment and determination of support from the Commonwealth secretariat and other partners, the organization is fully convinced that it will have the capacity to discharge its mandate in the commonwealth countries. The association has been able to set up the new executive committee, review and adopt the new Constitution and adopted the plan of action which will guide the work of the organisation from now onward. This organisation will build the capacity of national federations such as LNFOD to continue to engage the government and other development partners to mainstream disability within the broad range of social services in order to ensure to people with disabilities full enjoyment of human rights.
On the other hand, the Chairperson attended the 12th session of the state party conference on the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities) CRPD) as it was co inciting with the revival of the Commonwealth. The conference is used to report on the state of implementation of the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities by the member states.
Lesotho became a party to this Convention on the 2nd December 2009 and its first state report was due in 2011. Unfortunately, Lesotho has not yet submitted its first state report to the Committee on the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities for review and re recommendations. It is very crucial to report the state of implementation of the CRPD to the CRPD committee as scheduled by the convention because it is the yard stick against which you measure progress towards the implementation and you have the opportunity to have recommendations from other members as to how you can fast tract implementation of the Convention.
“from the foregoing, I strongly encourage the government of Lesotho through the Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Law, Human rights and Constitutional Affairs including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to come together to work on the first state report highlighting the progress that is made by Lesotho to implement the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. In doing so, they should involve the representative organisations of people with disabilities and other human rights organisations.”
The CDPF is an international organization of persons with disabilities established by organisations of persons with disabilities in 2008 to advocate for the development of disability inclusive development policies and implementation of the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities in the commonwealth countries. It was successfully revived in June this year following its demise in 2012 as a result of financial constraints.
With the commitment and determination of support from the Commonwealth secretariat and other partners, the organization is fully convinced that it will have the capacity to discharge its mandate in the commonwealth countries. The association has been able to set up the new executive committee, review and adopt the new Constitution and adopted the plan of action which will guide the work of the organisation from now onward. This organisation will build the capacity of national federations such as LNFOD to continue to engage the government and other development partners to mainstream disability within the broad range of social services in order to ensure to people with disabilities full enjoyment of human rights.
On the other hand, the Chairperson attended the 12th session of the state party conference on the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities) CRPD) as it was co inciting with the revival of the Commonwealth. The conference is used to report on the state of implementation of the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities by the member states.
Lesotho became a party to this Convention on the 2nd December 2009 and its first state report was due in 2011. Unfortunately, Lesotho has not yet submitted its first state report to the Committee on the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities for review and re recommendations. It is very crucial to report the state of implementation of the CRPD to the CRPD committee as scheduled by the convention because it is the yard stick against which you measure progress towards the implementation and you have the opportunity to have recommendations from other members as to how you can fast tract implementation of the Convention.
“from the foregoing, I strongly encourage the government of Lesotho through the Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Law, Human rights and Constitutional Affairs including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to come together to work on the first state report highlighting the progress that is made by Lesotho to implement the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. In doing so, they should involve the representative organisations of people with disabilities and other human rights organisations.”
