Human Rights-Based Approach to Disability
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) which entered into force in 2008, a legally binding instrument which has been widely ratified, is grounded on the human rights-based approach, moving away from previous models on how to approach disability, in particular the so-called medical model. This change is profound and is therefore often defined as a paradigm shift. Understanding the human rights-based approach to disability is a key prerequisite to ensure that policy makers and other stakeholders that will work on issues affecting the rights of persons with disabilities, design laws, policies and programmes in a way that is consistent with the CRPD.
This Course, developed by UNITAR in partnership with the Inter-Agency Support Group for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (IASG), offers a unique opportunity to understand this approach, to learn how to apply it and to gain knowledge on some of the core aspects of the CRPD, with a particular focus on anti-discrimination and participation.
The overall objective of this course is to allow a better understanding of the human rights-based approach to disability and to enable participants to identify gaps between existing policy and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in order to implement it coherently.
- Module 1: What is (and what is not) disability?
- Module 2: Introduction to the CRPD
- Module 3: Discrimination and anti-discrimination in the CRPD
- Module 4: Crosscutting provisions in the Convention
The course is based on UNITAR’s sound adult learning pedagogical principles. Each module includes readings, self-assessment activities and quizzes. The learning activities are distributed in such a way to ensure the achievement of the learning objectives in a flexible manner.
The course is open to all persons interested in the subject.