News

Volume 8 Issue 9 - December 01, 2011

U.N.C.R.P.D. Committee gets an added week to meet every year

D.N.I.S. News Network, India: The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which till now met for a week twice a year to monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (C.R.P.D.) by States Parties, had requested the United Nations General Assembly to authorise an extension of its meeting time. At the 66th session of the U.N. General Assembly, the Third Committee, which works on human rights and humanitarian issues, finalised the C.R.P.D. Resolution. The most important aspect of this Resolution is that it grants the C.R.P.D. Committee another full week of meeting time, enhancing its ability to consider State Reports.

The text of the Resolution states that the General Assembly “Decides to authorise for the Committee an additional week of meeting time per year to be used consecutive to an existing regular session, bearing in mind the requirements of the Committee for reasonable accommodation, and without prejudice to the ongoing process of reform aimed at strengthening the treaty body system.”

It is hoped that with this extension, the C.R.P.D. Committee which has been bogged down with the substantial number of Reports to be considered in a short time, will be able to perform its duties better.