Russia signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

On 24 September, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on behalf of the Russian Federation signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. He also deposited the instrument of ratification by the Russian Federation the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict to the headquarters of the UN. (30-SEN-08)

Written by Maria Paramonova/HRH Moscow
Links: http://www.newsru.com/russia/05aug2008/handicap.html; http://hro1.org/node/3203

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
“The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the first of the new century which is universally devoted to human rights” – said Mr. Lavrov. The Minister reported that there is the law of 1995 year on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Russian Federation, as well as the federal program of supporting the disabled at 2006 -2010, but there is a lot of work to do in this area to ensure the rights of persons with disabilities.

At the same time, the Minister noted that Russia´s accession to the Convention will contribute to the plans of the state on this issue, as well as international obligations” – convinced Mr. Lavrov. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2006 and was ratified by 36 States.

The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
“Russia´s accession to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child is of particular importance in keeping with our policy to protect the rights of children” – stated Mr. Lavrov. The document “specifies measures that all countries should be involved to prevent the use of children in armed conflict”, – explained the Minister.”These events symbolize the support of the Russian Federation for international cooperation in the field of human rights and at the same time means that we now have additional commitments to implement these agreements into reality”, – added Mr. Lavrov. The main objective of the protocol is to prevent the involving children into armed conflicts. 122 countries joined to this document. According to the President of the Russian Federation, the protocol was signed in 2001 on behalf of the Russian Federation.