A guide on monitoring the progress in the implementation
of Article 19 of the CRPD

Every person with a disability has thea right to live independently and be included in the community. There is a new document which tells governments how to help people with disabilities live independently and be included in the community. You can find this document here. You may need the help of your support person to understand this document.

The Open Society Foundations have recently published a Guide aiming to monitor the progress on the implementation of Article 19 of the CRPD. The Guide was developped under the framework of a project of the Mental Health Initiative and the Law and Health Initiative of the Open Society Public Health Program.

Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) provides for the right to live independently and be included in the community. Taking into consideration the obligations of Member States under Article 19 and other relevant rights under the Convention, the Guide “A Community for All: Implementing Article 19” underlines the need for action in order to build community-based services promoting social inclusion of people with disabilities.

The Guide provides governments with the main areas of work that they need to consider when planning to implement the principles of Article 19. These guidelines are based on relevant CRPD rights and they include checklists and questions on 5 key areas which can be important for the implementation of the CRPD:

1. The status of the CRPD upon ratification: examining whether the governments have made a reservation to the CRPD and if the CRPD has become part of the national law upon ratification;
2. Raising awareness about the CRPD: action should be taken to inform people with disabilities and other parts of society about CRPD;
3. Harmonizing national law and policy with the CRPD: governments must ensure that their laws and practice are consistent with the CRPD;
4. National monitoring: examining whether States have established a range of mechanisms for the implementation of CRPD;
5. Participation of people with disabilities: governments should "consult closely" with, and actively involve people in disabilities in the development and implementation of legislation, policies and other relevant decision-making processes, as the Convention says.

Governments, disability and human rights organisations can use this guide in order to identify what work is necessary for realizing the vision of an inclusive community, in which people with disabilities will have an active role and will be able to live independently as everyone else.

To read the whole guide, you can click here.

To find out more about the Open Society Foundations, you can follow this link.