06 March 2019

Human Rights Council – 40th Regular Session

Palais des Nations, Geneva, Wednesday, 6 March 2019 

Annual interactive debate on the rights of persons with disabilities, with a focus on Article 26 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, on habilitation and rehabilitation 

International Campaign to Ban Landmines - Cluster Munition Coalition (ICBL-CMC) 

Habilitation and rehabilitation in conflict and post-conflict environments are vital and still under-provided. Through our research publication, the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, we track annual progress in the availability and accessibility of physical rehabilitation and psychosocial services. We focus on how to meet the rehabilitation needs of economically vulnerable people in rural and remote areas of countries that experienced armed conflict. Challenges identified include insufficient availability, unaffordable costs of services, and distance to rehabilitation centers, which are often far from being “as close as possible to their own communities.” In several countries where provision of rehabilitation is mandated by law, access is impeded by excessive procedural complications.

HRC 6 March 2019_PwD Session_Devandas

We record initial progress in delivering on the promises of SDG3 toward increasing health financing and the trained health workforce. We look forward to progress on the indicators for Objective 2 of the WHO’s Global Disability Action Plan 2014-2021, to which landmine survivors and their DPOs contributed. Furthermore, we observe that service providers are heeding the call to deliver based on need without bias to the cause of impairment; and with a view to being age- and gender-appropriate in local contexts.

However, regarding peer support as enshrined in Article 26 of the convention, the Monitor identifies a decline in the resources for networks and organizations of landmine survivors and other persons with disabilities providing peer support to rehabilitation service users, which struggled to maintain their operations and implement essential activities. We urge that the need for sustained peer support be given greater consideration in the context of rehabilitation.

Thank you.