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Comment RSSObama: US to sign Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
July 26, 2009 # 11:37 am # Human Rights, International Law, International Organizations # No Comment
President Obama after signing a proclamation celebrating the 19th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act
In case you missed this– on Friday, July 24, President Obama announced that the United States would sign the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The AP reports:
Marking the 19th anniversary of a landmark law barring discrimination against people with disabilities, President Barack Obama said Friday that the U.S. will sign a United Nations treaty urging countries around the world to do the same.
Obama said he had instructed U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to sign the document next week, joining 140 other nations.
“It’s the first new human rights convention of the 21st century,” Obama said at the White House during an East Room celebration of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.
The law protects people with mental or physical disabilities from discrimination in employment, education, housing, public transportation and other areas of life.
“This extraordinary treaty calls on all nations to guarantee rights likes those afforded under the ADA,” Obama said. “It urges equal protection and equal benefit before the law for all citizens. It reaffirms the inherent dignity and worth and independence of all persons with disabilities worldwide.”
This is a very good decision. Let’s hope that the Senate moves quickly to give advice and consent.
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