Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

By Andrew Hazard

It is estimated that more than 1 billion people, 15% of the world’s population, live with disabilities [1]. In 2006, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, aimed at upholding the human rights of disabled individuals around the world. However, in order to ensure the implementation of the treaty, a board of experts would have to be created. This led to the formation of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), a United Nations body whose goal is to guarantee the rights of those with disabilities and enforce the 2006 treaty on an international scale. Through its recommendations and cooperation with countries party to the treaty, the CRPD promotes the inclusion of such people and the safeguarding of their dignity. This article will explain how the CRPD implements the terms of the related treaty, how the body is structured, and what other activities they have been involved in to advance global disability rights.

Based on the UN’s assessment of disabilities in relation to human rights, the CRPD views the societal exclusion disabled individuals face as a result of socially constructed barriers rather than the impairments themselves. They believe that one of the biggest causes of discrimination and exclusion faced by disabled people is the failure to comprehend disability rights and implement them adequately. It is with this understanding of disabilities that the CRPD carries out its mission. When the committee cooperates with states on the implementation of disability rights, it is made explicitly clear that this human rights model makes the inclusion of disabled people in society non-negotiable. In all areas of life, they must not be excluded, no matter the reason. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has instead exposed the fact that the Convention has often not been properly applied by signatory countries. The effects of the pandemic, and ingrained discrimination and unequal treatment, has left many disabled people vulnerable. As such, the CRPD continues to call attention to the need for states that are parties to the treaty to always include disabled individuals in decisions that affect them.

The CRPD is composed of a board of independent experts who hold twice-a-year sessions, usually in Geneva Switzerland. These experts are tasked with observing the application of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in signatory countries. According to Article 35 of the convention, all nations that have signed and ratified the treaty are required to submit reports to the committee, detailing how the rights guaranteed by the treaty are being upheld [1]. An initial report must be made within the first two years after a country’s ratification; reports thereafter must be made every four years. Upon reading each individual report, the CRPD makes recommendations to the concerned state, with the goal of further improving the convention’s implementation. The committee may pursue further inquiry if there is evidence that a party has violated the treaty’s terms. If a state party has signed the optional protocol, they reserve the right to submit complaints if they are dissatisfied with the assessment they received [2]. The CRPD also publishes general comments, which explain the committee’s interpretation of what human rights provisions should look like.

The CRPD has 18 members in total, with each being “of high moral standing and recognized competence and experience in the field covered by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.” Members are nominated and elected, by states that have signed and ratified the convention, during the Conference of States parties to the CRPD. Members are elected for 4-year terms (those who have been renominated are eligible for reelection), with a specific country’s candidate being decided by that country’s nationals. Elections take place every other year, and members are considered based on relevant legal experience, geographic origin balance and equal gender representation [1]. Also under consideration is the “participation of experts with disabilities.” Members do not represent the country that nominated them, instead acting independently.

As aforementioned, the CRPD publishes general comments with the aim of assisting state parties in fulfilling their obligations. The committee uses its authority on matters relating to disabilities to provide guidance on the provisions of the convention. Eight general comments have been adopted by the committee as of today [1]. The topics of these articles are as follows: Equal recognition before the law, accessibility, women and girls with disabilities, right to inclusive education, right to independent living, equality and non-discrimination, participation of persons with disabilities, and work and employment.

When it comes to how countries involved in the convention report their implementation of disability rights, there are strict guidelines that must be followed. Simplified periodic reporting involves a list of issues being prepared by the committee and sent to the parties for them to address. Any replies to those issues are considered to be that state’s report. This simplified process was created with the hope that participating countries have a greater capacity to fulfill their respective obligations, and produce a greater number of reports focused on specific areas, in a productive and time-conscious manner [1]. Additionally, this procedure aims to boost the effectiveness of how the treaty is monitored by lowering the need to ask for extra information before a report can be considered, as well as provide the committee the ability to plan its work ahead of time. Part of this involves participating countries setting up independent bodies that handle statements and recommendations to their respective governments [2].

In addition to its regularly held sessions, the CRPD engages in a number of different activities that help advance global disability rights. The committee often makes announcements and statements based on their findings on the situations in individual countries after reviewing reports. These statements are sometimes written and published on the CRPD’s website, but are often released in the form of videos. One recent statement from November 2025 brought attention to the human rights violations against people with disabilities taking place in Myanmar, primarily due to internal conflict [1]. Recent findings on North Korea detailed how the state does not explicitly forbid discrimination based on disability, societal stigma causes physically impaired veterans to be treated differently, and people with other disabilities are outright excluded from state services [3]. The committee also organizes virtual seminars and panels where participants may discuss the treaty’s execution and other disability-related matters.

While it is true that the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities does not have the power to force positive change in areas where disabled individuals are stripped of their rights, they play an important role in bringing greater attention to the difficulties these people face around the world. The process by which members of the body are selected assures that qualified people are involved. The responses that the committee gives to the reports of countries that have signed the convention hold them to higher accountability. Their announcements raise awareness about specific aspects of the lives of disabled people that often go overlooked. With an organization like the CRPD as an international advocate, with UN backing, the world remains imperfect in how it addresses disability rights, but is nonetheless better equipped and more knowledgeable on the subject than it would be otherwise.

References

[1] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. United Nations. https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/crpd.

[2] Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection. UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Government of the Republic of Austria. https://www.sozialministerium.gv.at/en/Topics/Social-Affairs/People-with-Disabilities/UN-Convention-on-the-Rights-of-Persons-with-Disabilities.html.

[3] Simone Galimberti. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Sharing4Good. https://www.sharing4good.org/article/committee-rights-persons-disabilities-crpd.