Mission

The CCD International Task Force envisions a global society in which individuals with disabilities have the rights, freedoms, and opportunities to fully participate in all aspects of civic life and to exercise individual decisions concerning their own lives. To achieve this vision, the International Task Force will advocate for United States and international policies which promote the rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities worldwide, educate members of CCD and the broader domestic community about United States and international disability policies and development, and foster the sharing of information between CCD members and other international disability advocates.

Co-chairs

• David Hutt
  National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)
  Phone: (202) 408-9514
  Fax: (202) 408-9520
  david.hutt@ndrn.org

• Day Al-Mohamed
  American Psychological Association (APA)
  Phone: (202) 336-6061
  Fax: (202) 336-6063
  DWilliamsAl-Mohamed@apa.org

Webcast

The New International Disability Rights Treaty And Why the Disability Community Should Care
The CCD International Task Force presented a webcast on September 17, 2008 on the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). (Co-sponsored by: Easter Seals, the Association of University Centers on Disabilities, and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society). The speakers included:

• Katherine Guernsey, International Attorney and Adjunct Professor, American University
• Elisabeth Doyle, Power, Pyles, Sutter, and Verville, Health/Disability Practice
• Alison Hillman de Velásquez, Director of Americas Programs, Mental Disability Rights International

A recording of the entire webcast and the power-points are available from the links below:
Recording of Webcast [Requires Windows Media Player]
Transcript
Power-points:

• Overview of the CRPD
• CRPD and U.S. Law: An Overview of Differences
• The International Impact of the CRPD

Resources

International Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities

The International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the newest international human rights treaty:

• International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (PDF) Adopted by the United Nations on December 13, 2006.  On May 3, 2008 the Convention entered into “legal force,” meaning that the treaty is binding on those nations who have ratified the Convention. 

• Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Information on the Convention and on international disability rights issues is available on two U.N. websites: the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Disability Page, and U.N. Enable.  The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights provides the latest information on those nations which have ratified the Convention.

The National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency, released a report entitled Finding the Gaps: A Comparative Analysis of Disability Laws in the United States to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) , discussing the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the context of Untied States law.  The NCD report, available by linking from the above title or at www.ncd.gov, concludes that “as a general matter, the aims of the CRPD are consistent with U.S. disability law. For the majority of articles, U.S. law can be viewed as either being of a level with the mandates of the Convention or capable of reaching those levels either through more rigorous implementation and/or additional actions by Congress. However, this paper also identifies several CRPD Articles that illustrate significant gaps between United States disability laws and the Convention.”  Finding the Gaps at 1.

For information on grass-roots efforts towards achieving United States ratification of the International Convention, visit the website RatifyNow.

United States Foreign Assistance and Disability

The United States Agency for International Development maintains a website addressing Disability and Development Issues.

Activities

• International Task Force Annual Report for 2009  [PDF][WORD] (January 6, 2010)
• Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Applauds U.S. Decision to Sign the Treaty on Disability Rights (July 23, 2009)
• International Task Force Annual Report for 2008  [PDF][WORD] (February 23, 2009) (February 23, 2009)
• CCD Letter on International Disability Rights Convention (March 30, 2008)

• CCD Ad Hoc International Task Force Annual Report for 2007  (January 11, 2008)

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