In recent times, there has been an extensive effort made to fight any form of discrimination against persons with disabilities’ entering the open labour market. This effort has been carried out on an International, European Level and national Level. The main objective of human rights efforts is to guarantee basic freedom, and to permit the development of human values, such as equal opportunities, dignity and autonomy. The result of this collective effort is a number of anti-discriminations legislations and plans. There are several instruments, which, while not specifically directed at persons with disabilities, still offer protection to this group. My next contributions in these blogs will look at and describe legislation and action plans from various bodies including the United Nations, European entities and stakeholders in Malta.
United Nations legislations
The United Nations (UN) was at the forefront in creating legal instruments that promote and protect the rights of all persons. These rights also apply to persons with disabilities. As soon as the UN was created, persons with disabilities began to assert their rights. In the past fifty years, persons with disabilities have also started to voice their concerns and have confirmed their confidence in their ability to lead independent lives. It is a major role of the UN to bring states together as concerns issues about persons with disability. Furthermore, the UN also supports national legislations and in-country policy makers for the benefit of these people (UN, 2017).
Soon after the birth of the United Nation in 1945, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) came into effect, in December 1948. Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of the US president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and chair of the United Nations Commission wrote this declaration. It consists of thirty Articles. This declaration does not explicitly include or refer to disability. During the years following its inception, several conventions were published, where the category, disability, was traditionally included under the generalised heading of ‘other statuses’. However, the Commission of Human Rights rectified this situation, stating:
“Recalling that all persons with disabilities have the right to protection against discrimination and to full and equal enjoyment of their human rights, as laid down, inter alia, in the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the 1983 Convention concerning vocational rehabilitation and employment (ILO, 2002).”
Despite the UDHR, people with disabilities still experienced exclusion and oppression, in some countries, and face many challenges. This led to the creation of The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
UNCRPD
Between 2002 and 2006, the UNCRPD was negotiated and drafted. Since that time, the convention has passed through the processes of ratification, implementation and monitoring. On the 13th of December 2006, the convention was formally adopted, marking a significant shift in the relationship between the actual rights of persons with disabilities and international legal instruments.
As of February 2016, 161 out of the 193 United Nations’ Member States (over 80%) had ratified the UNCRPD. The UNCRPD is one of nine core international human rights’ treaties. It includes thirty-three core articles covering all areas of life.
Article 27 of the convention recognises the right of persons with disabilities to work (paid) on an equal basis with others. This also applies to persons who acquire their disability during the course of their employment. The article also contains a list of obligations that states must fulfil in order to protect and enhance the employment rights of persons with disabilities. One such obligation is the promotion of persons with disabilities in the private sector, through policies and affirmative measures. The Article also stresses that compulsory (enforced) labour of persons with disabilities, such as slavery or servitude, is in violation of the UNCRPD (Lawson 2007).
Malta signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability in March 2007, together with the Optional Protocol. These were both ratified in October 2012 and came into effect on the 9th November 2012.
Tonio Axisa 